Pressure-Controlled Microvalve for Selective Therapeutic Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical treatments for diseases like pancreatic cancer and diabetes face inefficiencies due to inadequate delivery of therapeutic agents to target tissues, leading to reduced effectiveness and increased risk to non-target organs, as existing methods struggle with precise localization and pressure control during intra-arterial infusion.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an outer guide sheath with longitudinally displaceable catheters and occlusion devices, including a dynamic microvalve that expands to block reflux and ensure high-pressure infusion into feeder vessels, allowing precise targeting and deep penetration of therapeutic agents into pancreatic tissue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If intra-arterial infusion is used to deliver therapeutic agents to target tissue, then drug concentration at the tumor site increases, but reflux into healthy tissues occurs causing harm
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic valve mechanism that responds to pressure differential changes during the cardiac cycle. The valve opens during diastole when pressure downstream exceeds upstream pressure, allowing therapeutic agent delivery, and closes during systole when pressure reverses, preventing reflux into healthy tissues. This dynamic response resolves the contradiction between achieving high drug concentration at the target and preventing harmful reflux.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates pressure sensing capability that detects the phase of the cardiac cycle and provides feedback control of the valve state. When pressure downstream exceeds upstream pressure (diastole), the valve opens; when pressure reverses (systole), the valve closes. This feedback mechanism ensures therapeutic agents are delivered only during appropriate pressure conditions, preventing reflux while maintaining effective drug concentration at the tumor site.
2Quantity of substance
If catheters are placed in celiac/hepatic artery or portal vein for intra-arterial chemotherapy, then higher drug concentration reaches the tumor, but precise localization becomes difficult due to redundant blood supply and anatomical variability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a pressure-controlled valve as an intermediary device between the catheter and the target tissue. This valve acts as a selective gate that allows therapeutic agents to pass only under specific pressure conditions (when downstream pressure exceeds upstream pressure), thereby ensuring precise delivery to the intended target while compensating for anatomical variability and redundant blood supply pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes pressure differential as a controlling parameter to regulate therapeutic agent delivery. By monitoring and responding to pressure changes during the cardiac cycle, the valve ensures that drugs are delivered only when pressure conditions favor forward flow into the target tissue, thereby achieving precise localization independent of catheter placement variability.
3Quantity of substance
If systemic chemotherapy is administered, then treatment can be delivered broadly, but insufficient drug concentration reaches the tumor due to dose-limited toxicity in bone marrow and epithelial tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements localized drug delivery by placing a pressure-controlled valve at the distal end of the catheter, close to the target tissue. This ensures that therapeutic agents are released only at the specific location where pressure downstream exceeds upstream pressure, creating high drug concentration locally at the tumor site while minimizing systemic exposure and toxicity to healthy tissues such as bone marrow and epithelium.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the drug delivery process into two distinct phases: (1) delivery phase during diastole when the valve opens and high concentration drugs are delivered to the tumor, and (2) protection phase during systole when the valve closes and prevents systemic reflux. This segmentation allows high doses to be delivered locally without causing systemic toxicity.
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
This system enables targeted and efficient delivery of therapeutic agents to pancreatic tissue, reducing systemic side effects and improving treatment efficacy by maintaining higher drug concentrations at the tumor site while minimizing exposure to non-target organs.
Implementation Method 1
the pressure in the vessel downstream (distal) of the treatment is always higher than that upstream (proximal) of the treatment, causing the microvalve to open and block reflux
Data Source
AI summary
A treatment system includes a guide sheath, and a catheter provided with a pressure-controlled element. The pressure-control element preferably includes an expanded configuration adapted to extend across a small feeder vessel branching from the splenic vein. The pressure-control element is positioned with the feeder vessel, and a therapeutic agent is delivered under pressure directly into the feeder vessel, where it is forced to penetrate deep into tissue. Pressure responsive elements for monitoring intravascular pressure are also provided to time delivery of the therapeutic agent for maximum uptake by the target organ.