Non-Circular Stent Tissue Coupling for Vessel Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Insufficient compliance in blood vessels, such as the aorta, leads to reduced perfusion and cardiac output, resulting in health complications.
Innovation Solution
Non-circular stents with support structures that force a more-circular shape to facilitate tissue ingrowth, allowing the stent to reshape the blood vessel through tissue integration, enhancing compliance by transitioning between circular and non-circular shapes during the cardiac cycle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a non-circular stent is implanted to reshape the blood vessel, then blood vessel compliance is improved, but the stent cannot maintain sufficient contact with the blood vessel wall for tissue ingrowth
Solution Approach 1:
The stent is pre-formed with a non-circular cross-sectional shape before implantation. This preliminary shaping allows the stent to exert radial force on the blood vessel wall, creating sustained contact that facilitates tissue ingrowth while simultaneously reshaping the compliant blood vessel segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent's cross-sectional geometry is changed from a conventional circular shape to a non-circular shape (such as oval or irregular). This parameter change enables the stent to better match the natural geometry of the blood vessel and apply distributed radial force, improving both compliance restoration and tissue ingrowth conditions.
2Stability of the object's composition
If traditional grafting or resection is used to treat blood vessel compliance issues, then compliance can be restored, but the patient faces surgical risks
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces complex surgical mechanical interventions (grafting, resection) with a minimally invasive stent implantation procedure. The stent delivers mechanical compliance-restoring function through its elastic memory effect, eliminating the need for open surgical procedures and associated risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent is made from shape memory material that automatically returns to its pre-formed non-circular shape after implantation. This self-service mechanism restores blood vessel compliance without requiring additional surgical intervention or complex mechanical assistance systems.
3Reliability
If a circular stent is used to maintain contact with the blood vessel wall, then tissue ingrowth is facilitated, but the ability to reshape the blood vessel is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The stent employs asymmetric non-circular geometry instead of symmetric circular shape. This asymmetry allows the stent to apply differential radial force on the blood vessel wall, enabling effective reshaping while maintaining sufficient contact pressure in all regions to support tissue ingrowth.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution increases blood vessel compliance, promoting even blood flow and reducing pulsatile pressure, thereby improving cardiac output and patient outcomes without the risks associated with traditional grafting or resection.
Implementation Method 1
the tie is biodegradable... Removal of the stent support(s) can be achieved through dissolution of the support(s), which may comprise biodegradable material configured to dissolve after a period of time sufficient to accommodate the tissue overgrowth of the stent
Data Source
AI summary
A method of coupling a stent to a blood vessel involves deploying a stent in a target blood vessel segment, the stent having a non-circular biased shape, forcing the stent to a more-circular shape compared to the non-circular biased shape using a tie coupled across an inner diameter of the stent in a tensioned state, maintaining the tie in the tensioned state for a period of time sufficient to allow tissue overgrowth to couple the stent to a wall of the target blood vessel segment, and de-tensioning the tie to allow the stent to reshape the blood vessel segment to a non-circular shape.