Pulmonary Artery Denervation for Treatment-Resistant Hypertension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for secondary pulmonary hypertension are often ineffective and expensive, with limited options available for patients with WHO group II and III PH, who are resistant to conventional therapies.
Innovation Solution
A method involving pulmonary artery denervation using a pulmonary artery manipulation device, which impairs the activity of sympathetic nerves to denervate target blood vessels, thereby ameliorating secondary pulmonary hypertension.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pharmacological agents are used to treat pulmonary hypertension, then treatment coverage is provided, but treatment effectiveness is limited and costs are extremely high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces pharmacological treatment (chemical system) with a mechanical/physical intervention - pulmonary artery denervation using a catheter-based device that delivers energy to interrupt sympathetic nerve fibers. This substitution aims to achieve more reliable treatment effects while avoiding the extremely high costs and limited effectiveness of long-term pharmacological therapy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the treatment parameter from chemical pharmacology to physical nerve denervation. By targeting the sympathetic nervous system control of pulmonary vasculature, the treatment fundamentally alters the physiological parameter (neural control) rather than using chemical agents, thereby achieving different therapeutic outcomes with potentially lower long-term costs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional therapies are applied to WHO group II and III PH patients, then treatment is provided, but treatment resistance occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and targets the specific pathological mechanism (sympathetic overactivity) that drives pulmonary hypertension in WHO group II and III patients. By isolating and denervating the sympathetic nerve fibers in the pulmonary artery, the treatment removes the harmful neural drive without being constrained by the underlying etiology (left heart disease or hypoxia), thereby overcoming treatment resistance to conventional therapies.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of treating the underlying cause (left heart disease or hypoxia) with conventional therapies that fail in these patients, the patent inverts the approach by targeting the downstream effect (sympathetic-mediated vasoconstriction). This reverse engineering approach - treating the consequence rather than the cause - provides a novel therapeutic pathway for treatment-resistant patients.
3Reliability
If pulmonary artery denervation is performed, then pulmonary vascular resistance decreases, but the procedure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a catheter-based delivery system as an intermediary that enables minimally invasive access to the pulmonary artery for nerve denervation. This intermediary device allows the treatment to be delivered through standard catheterization procedures rather than open surgery, thereby achieving effective denervation while limiting the increase in procedural complexity.
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 method effectively decreases pulmonary vascular resistance and ameliorates secondary pulmonary hypertension in patients who are resistant to conventional treatments, providing a viable option for patients with limited treatment alternatives.
Implementation Method 1
impairing the activity of at least one sympathetic nerve, nerve fiber or neuron, using the pulmonary artery manipulation device
Data Source
AI summary
Method for ameliorating secondary pulmonary hypertension in a patient including determining a pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) of the patient suffering from secondary pulmonary hypertension; assessing a change in the PVR in response to a selection treatment; and treating the patient with a pulmonary artery manipulation device to provide pulmonary artery denervation if the patient is determined to suffer from fixed PH, thereby ameliorating the secondary pulmonary hypertension of the patient.