Implantable Gas Delivery Device with Porous Core
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current implantable medical devices face challenges in delivering therapeutic gases like molecular hydrogen effectively due to high gas pressures, which can cause the devices to swell and risk rupture, and existing solutions for oxygenation of cellular implants are inadequate for supporting islet viability and function in cell therapy applications.
Innovation Solution
An implantable gas delivery device featuring a porous core with a gas-permeable diffusion membrane, designed to withstand tensile stress without deformation, and a gas supply tube for controlled gas delivery, ensuring a planar geometry and gas-tight seal, using biocompatible materials like sintered polymers and woven polymers to prevent gas entrapment and promote safe diffusion of therapeutic gases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high gas pressure is used to deliver therapeutic gases, then gas delivery effectiveness is improved, but device swelling and rupture risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous core structure that allows therapeutic gases to diffuse through its matrix. The porous architecture provides high surface area for gas exchange while maintaining structural integrity at low pressures, eliminating the need for high-pressure delivery systems that would cause swelling and rupture risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from high-pressure gas delivery to low-pressure diffusion by changing the delivery mechanism parameter. Gas is delivered dissolved in aqueous medium at physiological pressures, fundamentally altering the delivery state from pressurized gas to dissolved gas that diffuses through the porous matrix.
2Productivity
If gas is delivered at high pressure, then therapeutic gas delivery is enhanced, but deformation and rupture of the device occur
Solution Approach 1:
The porous core structure distributes gas delivery across a large surface area, reducing localized stress and deformation. The interconnected pores allow uniform gas diffusion throughout the device, preventing pressure buildup that would cause deformation or rupture.
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes composite construction with a porous core matrix combined with gas-permeable diffusion membranes. This composite structure provides both mechanical strength to resist deformation and controlled gas permeability for effective therapeutic gas delivery at low pressures.
3Quantity of substance
If existing oxygenation solutions are used for cellular implants, then oxygen delivery is provided, but islet viability and function are insufficiently supported
Solution Approach 1:
The porous core structure provides extensive surface area and interconnected pathways that facilitate simultaneous diffusion of multiple gases (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide) to islet cells. This architecture ensures adequate oxygenation while also delivering therapeutic gases that enhance islet viability and function beyond what conventional oxygenation alone achieves.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is designed to deliver multiple therapeutic gases simultaneously (oxygen for viability, hydrogen for anti-inflammatory effects, carbon monoxide for protective effects) in addition to oxygenation, providing multi-functional support that comprehensively maintains islet viability and function rather than just oxygen delivery.
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 enables controlled and safe delivery of therapeutic gases, preventing deformation and rupture, while ensuring adequate oxygenation for cellular implants, thereby enhancing the viability and function of islet cells and supporting therapeutic efficacy in cell therapy.
Implementation Method 1
a porous core, the porous core having an open volume and permitting transport of gas throughout the open volume
Implementation Method 2
at least one gas-permeable diffusion membrane, the at least one gas-permeable diffusion membrane being fixedly coupled to a surface of the porous core
Data Source
AI summary
Implantable gas delivery device and methods, systems, and devices including same. According to one embodiment, the implantable gas delivery device includes a porous core that permits facile transport of gas throughout its open volume. The porous core has sufficiently high tensile strength to withstand pressurization without significant deformation. The porous core is generally planar and is shaped to include a pair of opposing surfaces and a periphery. Diffusion membranes are fixed to the two opposing surfaces of the porous core. A gas supply tube has one end inserted into the porous core and another end connectable to a gas source. The periphery of the porous core is sealed gas-tight, either with a gasket or by sealing the porous core and/or diffusion membranes. The device may be used to deliver a gas to an implanted cell capsule or to native cells or tissues or may be used to expel waste gas.