Percutaneous Delivery System Balloon Anchoring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing percutaneous delivery systems face difficulties in advancing medical devices through lumens with challenging shapes and structures, such as the inguinal canal, due to their design, which can lead to puncture or damage.
Innovation Solution
A percutaneous delivery system featuring an anchoring balloon that laterally expands to engage the lumen sidewall and an advancing balloon that longitudinally expands to advance through the lumen, combined with a steering system for deflection, allowing controlled advancement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional delivery system is used to advance through the inguinal canal, then the delivery system can be introduced percutaneously, but it difficulty advancing through the canal due to its flat shape and collapsed walls, risking puncture or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system is divided into multiple functional components: a delivery sheath for protection, an anchoring balloon for engagement with the canal wall, and an advancing balloon for longitudinal expansion and advancement. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally, with the anchoring balloon providing stable engagement and the advancing balloon enabling controlled movement through the canal without risking puncture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes reversible expansion and deflation of balloons to change the physical parameters of the delivery system. The anchoring balloon expands laterally to engage the canal wall, while the advancing balloon expands longitudinally to advance through the canal. This parameter change enables the system to adapt to the flat geometry of the inguinal canal and advance safely without causing damage.
2Productivity
If the delivery system advances through the inguinal canal, then it can deliver medical devices to the target site, but it risks puncturing or damaging the canal walls
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery sheath acts as a protective cushion that encloses the advancing balloon and medical device during advancement through the inguinal canal. This beforehand cushioning protects the canal walls from puncture or damage while still allowing the system to advance and deliver the medical device to the target site safely.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchoring balloon serves as an intermediary between the delivery system and the canal wall. It engages with the canal wall in a controlled manner, providing stable anchoring while distributing forces to prevent puncture. The advancing balloon acts as another intermediary that mediates the advancement process, expanding longitudinally to move through the canal without causing tissue damage.
3Reliability
If the anchoring balloon is expanded laterally to engage the lumen sidewall, then it can anchor against the sidewall, but it increases the cross-sectional area within the delivery sheath
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring balloon is designed to be dynamically expandable and deflatable. During the anchoring phase, it expands laterally to engage the lumen sidewall, providing stable anchoring. When advancement is required, the balloon can be deflated to reduce its cross-sectional area, allowing it to be pushed through the delivery sheath without excessive resistance. This dynamic capability resolves the contradiction between anchoring capability and cross-sectional area.
Solution Approach 2:
The delivery system employs periodic expansion and deflation cycles of the anchoring balloon. The balloon is expanded laterally to engage the sidewall, held in place for anchoring, then deflated for advancement, and re-expanded for re-anchoring. This periodic action allows the system to maintain reliable anchoring capability while managing the cross-sectional area requirements during different phases of operation.
4Speed
If the advancing balloon is expanded longitudinally to advance through the lumen, then it can move the delivery system forward, but it requires force to overcome the anchoring balloon engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the anchoring function from the advancing function into two distinct balloons. The anchoring balloon provides stable engagement with the lumen sidewall, while the advancing balloon, located adjacent and distal to the anchoring balloon, expands longitudinally to advance the delivery system. This segmentation allows the advancing balloon to overcome anchoring forces more effectively, as it can expand longitudinally without being constrained by the anchoring balloon's lateral engagement, thereby increasing advancement speed while managing the required force.
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 system effectively navigates complex lumens by minimizing tissue disruption and preventing perforation, enabling precise delivery of medical devices to target sites.
Implementation Method 1
the anchoring balloon is reversibly expandable laterally within a body lumen to engage and anchor against a sidewall of the lumen
Implementation Method 2
the advancing balloon is reversibly expandable longitudinally within the body lumen to advance therethrough
Implementation Method 3
the pulley wires are configured to be independently displaced to allow deflection of the advancing balloon during advancement
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention is concerned with a percutaneous delivery system, in particular a delivery system for use in delivering medical devices or the like percutaneously to various sites in the human body, the delivery system including an anchoring balloon and an advancing balloon which are arranged to undergo motion relative to one another to advance the delivery system along a lumen within the body.