Protruding-Feature Stent Delivery With Axial Balloon Offset
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drug delivery systems for stents face challenges in efficiently delivering drugs to target locations within the body while minimizing the required dosage and ensuring effective expansion and positioning of the stent.
Innovation Solution
A delivery system for stents with protruding features that includes an inflatable balloon for expansion, allowing the stent to be deployed and expanded upon unsheathing, and features an axially offset arrangement to reduce space requirements, along with a stabilizing wire for maintaining position and enabling retraction and repositioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the stent is expanded against the vessel wall to deliver drugs effectively, then drug delivery efficiency is improved, but the risk of vessel wall damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates protruding features (spikes, flails, or other protrusions) at specific locations along its length, creating localized points of enhanced penetration capability. These features are strategically positioned to engage with the vessel wall at treatment sites, enabling effective drug delivery through controlled local interaction rather than uniform expansion, thereby reducing overall vessel wall damage risk while maintaining delivery efficiency.
2Strength
If the stent is designed with protruding features for tissue penetration, then penetration capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stent structure is segmented into distinct functional zones: protruding features (spikes, flails, or other protrusions) integrated at specific locations along the stent length, and smooth or reduced-profile sections in other areas. This segmentation allows the protruding features to provide enhanced penetration capability where needed while maintaining simplicity and ease of delivery in other regions, avoiding unnecessary complexity throughout the entire device.
3Manufacturing precision
If the stent is expanded to ensure proper positioning, then positioning accuracy is improved, but the required expansion force increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stent employs a dynamic expansion mechanism where the protruding features (spikes, flails, or other protrusions) are designed to deploy or extend during the expansion process. This dynamic behavior allows the stent to achieve proper positioning and anchoring in the vessel wall through a controlled expansion sequence, reducing the peak expansion force required compared to rigid stent designs that require maximum force to achieve the same positioning.
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 system facilitates efficient drug delivery and stent expansion with reduced overlap, enhancing therapeutic treatment duration and fluid flow, while allowing for multiple deployment and retrieval options.
Implementation Method 1
it is expanded against a wall of the body lumen
Data Source
AI summary
Delivery systems for expandable elements, such as stents or scaffolds having spikes, flails, or other protruding features for penetrating target tissue and/or delivering drugs within a human patient are described along with associated methods for using such systems. The delivery systems can be provided with a stent that is positioned over an inflatable balloon for expansion and delivery of the stent to a target delivery location. By positioning the stent over and about the inflatable balloon, the stent is ready to be expanded by the balloon immediately upon unsheathing with respect to the outer shaft. Additionally or alternatively, a stent can be positioned in an axially offset arrangement with respect to a balloon to reduce the need for space required by overlapping components.