Reloadable Anchor Delivery System for Minimally Invasive BPH Treatment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current treatments for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) are invasive, carry significant risks, and provide suboptimal results, with existing methods often requiring anesthesia, leading to patient discomfort and prolonged recovery times, and lacking immediate relief.

Innovation Solution

A reloadable handle-based delivery system that deploys multiple anchor assemblies from a single device, allowing for precise tissue manipulation and repositioning, including the use of replaceable cartridges and a mechanism for efficient reloading to minimize patient discomfort and enhance ease of use.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If surgical procedures (TURP, TVP, TUIP, Laser Prostatectomy, Open Prostatectomy) are used to treat BPH, then effective relief of urinary obstruction is achieved, but the procedures carry high risk of adverse effects, require general or spinal anesthesia, and necessitate hospital stay

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveeffectiveness of BPH treatmentVSAvoidadverse effects, anesthesia risk, hospital stay requirement

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The prostate gland is divided into multiple zones or segments, and anchors are deployed at different locations within the prostate to selectively retract specific regions. This segmentation allows targeted treatment of obstructive tissue without requiring complete removal or extensive surgical intervention, thereby reducing adverse effects while maintaining effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Anchors serve as intermediary devices that are inserted through the urethra and positioned within the prostate gland. These anchors mechanically retract the prostate tissue from the outside, providing an indirect method of relieving obstruction without direct surgical manipulation or removal of prostate tissue, thus avoiding the risks associated with traditional surgical procedures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If minimally invasive procedures (TUMT, TUNA, ILC, Prostatic Stents) are used to treat BPH, then lower risk of adverse effects is achieved, but the reduction in symptom score is lower and immediate relief is not provided

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadverse effects riskVSAvoidsymptom relief effectiveness

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

Anchors are pre-positioned within the prostate gland through the urethra before therapeutic energy delivery or tissue retraction. This preliminary placement allows the anchors to mechanically hold the prostate tissue in a retracted position, creating immediate relief of urinary obstruction while the minimally invasive procedure continues, thereby providing both immediate symptom relief and maintaining low adverse effect risk.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If drug therapies are used to treat BPH, then ease of administration is achieved, but results are suboptimal, take significant time to take effect, and often entail undesired side effects

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of treatment administrationVSAvoidtreatment effectiveness and speed of relief

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The invention replaces chemical drug therapy with a mechanical system involving anchors that physically retract the prostate gland. This mechanical approach provides immediate structural relief of urethral obstruction without relying on pharmacological agents, thereby achieving both ease of administration (similar to drugs) and superior effectiveness with immediate symptom relief (unlike drugs that take significant time to work).

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

4Device complexity

If a single anchor assembly is deployed per device, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity and efficiency of treatment are limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice structure simplicityVSAvoidnumber of anchors deployed per procedure

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The delivery device is designed as a universal platform that can deploy multiple anchor assemblies through a single catheter. The device incorporates multiple delivery channels or a reusable handle system that allows sequential or simultaneous deployment of several anchors at different prostate locations, thereby increasing treatment productivity and efficiency without proportionally increasing device complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

Multiple anchor assemblies are nested within a single delivery catheter or handle system. The anchors are stored in a compact, nested configuration within the catheter lumen or side channels, allowing them to be delivered through the same urethral access point. This nesting approach enables deployment of multiple anchors without requiring multiple separate catheters or procedures, thereby increasing productivity while maintaining relatively simple device structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Data Source

PatentUS10702261B2System with reloadable handle for delivering an anchor

Publication Date: 2020.07.07 TELEFLEX LIFE SCIENCES LLC

AI summary

An anchor delivery system configured for single patient, multiple use applications. The system includes reloading linkages which cooperate with needle, suture and anchor subassemblies and devices. Reloading actions accomplish the acceptance of a subsequent anchor cartridge and the readying of delivery structure.