Self-Expanding Permeable Shell for Aneurysm Occlusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for cerebral aneurysms, such as surgical clipping and endovascular coiling, are invasive and have limitations like poor packing density, compaction due to hydrodynamic pressure, and difficulty in deployment, especially in wide-necked aneurysms.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising an expandable cylindrical structure and a self-expanding resilient permeable shell with a braided structure, designed to be delivered through a microcatheter and expand within the aneurysm to block blood flow, while allowing some initial perfusion to reduce mechanical force from blood flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If surgical clipping is used to treat cerebral aneurysms, then the aneurysm can be effectively occluded, but the procedure requires major invasive surgery with extended anesthesia time and high patient risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a delivery catheter as an intermediary device to deliver the occlusion device endovascularly through the bloodstream, avoiding the need for open craniotomy surgery. The catheter system allows minimally invasive access to the aneurysm site while maintaining effective treatment capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical surgical clipping system with an endovascularly deliverable occlusion device that can be deployed through a catheter, substituting major surgical mechanics with less invasive interventional radiology mechanics
2Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional coiling is used to treat aneurysms, then the procedure is less invasive than surgery, but the coils suffer from poor packing density and compaction due to hydrodynamic pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible mesh structure composed of interwoven strands that can conform to the aneurysm geometry while maintaining structural integrity. This mesh design provides better resistance to compaction forces compared to traditional coil structures
Solution Approach 2:
The occlusion device combines multiple material properties within the mesh structure, using materials with appropriate elasticity, strength, and radiopacity characteristics to achieve both deliverability and stable deployment within the aneurysm
3Reliability
If the occlusion device completely blocks blood flow into the aneurysm, then thrombus formation is promoted effectively, but the mechanical force from blood flow causes deformation and compaction of the device
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a gradient in the mesh structure where different regions have varying densities and porosity. The distal portion has higher density to resist compaction from blood flow, while the proximal portion maintains appropriate porosity to promote thrombus formation
Solution Approach 2:
The mesh structure is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to adapt to the forces exerted by blood flow, maintaining its configuration through elastic recovery while still achieving effective occlusion over time
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the device is designed for easy delivery through microcatheter, then the procedure is less invasive, but the device structure becomes more complex to achieve both constrained delivery state and expanded functional state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a nested structure where the mesh occlusion device is contained within a delivery catheter during delivery. The device is compressed within the catheter in a constrained state, then deployed by expanding it within the aneurysm, achieving minimally invasive delivery while maintaining functional simplicity
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 device effectively blocks blood flow into the aneurysm, promoting thrombus formation and eventual occlusion, while minimizing the risk of deformation or compaction over time, thus providing a less invasive and more stable treatment option for cerebral aneurysms.
Implementation Method 1
a self-expanding resilient permeable shell with a braided structure... The self-expanding permeable shell has a radially constrained state and an expanded state
Implementation Method 2
The device effectively blocks blood flow into the aneurysm, promoting thrombus formation and eventual occlusion
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for treating a cerebral aneurysm may include advancing a resilient self-expanding implant coupled to a pusher within a microcatheter to the cerebral aneurysm within the patient's vasculature. The implant may include a permeable shell, a coil extending from a distal end of the permeable shell, and a bioactive agent. The implant may be deployed within the cerebral aneurysm, where the coil and the permeable shell each assume an expanded deployed configuration. In an expanded deployed configuration, the coil has at least one loop having a secondary diameter and the permeable shell has an axially shortened configuration relative to a radially constrained elongated configuration.