Pre-shaped Aortic Conduit with Scalloped Terminal Ends
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current prosthetic vascular conduits require surgeons to fashion terminal ends during surgery, which can be challenging, especially for tricuspid and bicuspid aortic valves, leading to variability and increased surgical complexity and inventory needs.
Innovation Solution
A prosthetic aortic conduit with pre-shaped terminal ends, featuring three scallops for tricuspid and two scallops for bicuspid valves, to facilitate easier implantation and reduce inventory requirements, along with reinforced and treated margins for improved hemostasis and tissue integration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If surgeons fashion terminal ends of prosthetic conduits during surgery, then the conduit can be customized to match patient anatomy, but surgical complexity and variability increase
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal ends of the prosthetic conduit are pre-shaped during manufacturing to include scallops, tongues, or fingers that match specific aortic valve configurations (tricuspid or bicuspid). This preliminary action eliminates the need for surgeons to fashion these complex shapes during surgery, reducing surgical complexity while maintaining anatomical customization through selective implantation of pre-configured conduit variants.
2Manufacturing precision
If surgeons fashion terminal ends during surgery, then precise anatomical matching is achieved, but surgical time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The precise anatomical shapes (scallops, tongues, fingers) are pre-formed during conduit manufacturing using controlled processes that ensure high precision. During surgery, the surgeon simply selects the appropriate pre-shaped conduit variant and implants it, eliminating the time-consuming manual fashioning process while maintaining precise anatomical matching through the pre-configured terminal ends.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple conduit variants are stocked for different valve types, then anatomical versatility is improved, but inventory complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthetic conduit is designed as a modular system where the terminal ends are segmented into distinct pre-configured variants (e.g., three-scallop for tricuspid, two-scallop for bicuspid). Each variant is manufactured as a separate identifiable product, allowing hospitals to stock only the specific variants needed for their patient population rather than maintaining a single generic inventory that requires intraoperative modification.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional tubular conduits with flat ends are used, then manufacturing is simple, but surgical fashioning is challenging and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal ends are pre-formed during manufacturing to include the complex scalloped shapes, tongues, or fingers required for surgical implantation. This transfers the manufacturing complexity to the fabrication stage where it can be controlled through automated processes, while the surgical stage benefits from the ready-to-implant pre-shaped ends that require no additional fashioning by the surgeon.
Data Source
AI summary
A prosthetic aortic conduit (1) for use during surgery on the aorta of a patient. The conduit includes an elongate tubular portion (10) extending along a longitudinal axis (11) between a first conduit terminal end (12) and a second conduit terminal end (13). The first conduit terminal end (12) is configured with two substantially U-shaped tongues (21, 22) extending away from the tubular portion (10) generally along the longitudinal axis (11). Each of the tongues (21, 22) is appropriately sized to together collectively approximate the shape of the scalloped bicuspid valve annulus. The second conduit terminal end (13) is configured with three substantially U-shaped tongues (31, 32, 33) extending away from the tubular portion (10) generally along the longitudinal axis (11). Each of the tongues (31, 32, 33) is appropriately sized to together collectively approximate the shape of the scalloped tricuspid valve annulus.