Implantable Pouch Rigid Plate Prevents Folding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Implantable pouches for artificial organs are prone to folding and membrane damage due to internal forces, leading to potential cell destruction and membrane weakening or breaking during and after implantation.
Innovation Solution
A pouch design featuring a closed envelope made from two semi-permeable membranes sealed around a perimeter, containing a substantially plane rigid plate within its inner volume, which prevents folding by maintaining a planar shape and is secured with a biocompatible material and optional elastomer coating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pouch is made from semi-permeable membranes for implantable artificial organs, then the pouch allows diffusion of substances of interest while preventing immune system entry, but the pouch is prone to folding and membrane damage due to internal forces during and after implantation
Solution Approach 1:
The pouch is constructed from flexible semi-permeable membranes that allow substance diffusion while maintaining structural integrity. The membranes are designed to be flexible enough to accommodate implantation but resistant to folding and damage from internal forces, directly addressing the contradiction between permeability and structural stability
Solution Approach 2:
The design anticipates and prevents folding and membrane damage before they occur by optimizing the membrane's mechanical properties and pouch structure to resist internal forces that would cause folding during and after implantation, thereby protecting the membrane integrity in advance
2Ease of operation
If the pouch is made flexible to allow implantation and substance diffusion, then the pouch can be implanted and function properly, but the pouch folds under internal forces leading to cell destruction and membrane weakening
Solution Approach 1:
The semi-permeable membranes provide the necessary flexibility for implantation and substance diffusion while simultaneously offering sufficient strength to resist folding and damage from internal forces, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and strength
Solution Approach 2:
The pouch employs composite membrane structures that combine materials with different properties to achieve both flexibility for implantation and strength to prevent folding, creating a material system that satisfies both contradictory requirements
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 rigid plate effectively prevents pouch folding and maintains structural integrity, ensuring prolonged viability of cells and efficient substance delivery by maintaining the pouch's shape and preventing membrane damage during implantation and post-implantation forces.
Implementation Method 1
the membrane is semi-permeable, in that it allows passage of substances of a size below a given threshold (typically substances secreted by the cells that go from the inside of the chamber to the body of the patients)
Implementation Method 2
at the same time being impermeable to the antibodies and the cells of the patient's immune system, thus preventing them from directly attaching the cells producing the substance(s) of interest
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an implantable pouch which contains a rigid plate in its inner volume, thereby preventing said pouch to be folded.