Renal Vein Blood Pump With Cage Protection and Backflow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cardiac dysfunction and kidney dysfunction often form a vicious cycle, leading to congestive heart failure and kidney dysfunction, exacerbated by increased renal venous pressure, which causes fluid retention, reduced renal blood flow, and systemic resistance, necessitating a solution to break this cycle.
Innovation Solution
A blood pump with an impeller is placed inside the renal vein to pump blood downstream, reducing pressure and enhancing renal perfusion, using a cage to protect the vein and optionally an occlusion element to prevent backflow, with a sleeve in the vena cava to prevent reverse blood flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If a blood pump with impeller is placed inside the renal vein to pump blood downstream, then renal vein pressure is reduced and kidney perfusion is enhanced, but the risk of vein injury from the impeller increases
Solution Approach 1:
A cage is introduced as an intermediary protective structure between the impeller and the renal vein wall. The cage allows the impeller to rotate and pump blood effectively while preventing direct contact between the impeller blades and the vein wall, thus avoiding injury to the vein.
Solution Approach 2:
The blood pump device is segmented into distinct functional components: the impeller for pumping blood, the cage for protection, and the delivery system for insertion. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the impeller for pumping efficiency, the cage for protective coverage, and the delivery system for minimally invasive insertion.
2Reliability
If an occlusion element is added to prevent backflow in the renal vein, then blood flow control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The occlusion element is combined with the blood pump device as an integrated assembly. The occlusion element can be positioned upstream or downstream of the pump within the same delivery system, allowing backflow prevention functionality to be added without requiring a completely separate device or complex additional mechanisms.
3Reliability
If a sleeve is placed in the vena cava to prevent reverse blood flow, then control over blood flow direction is improved, but the procedure complexity and number of components increase
Solution Approach 1:
A sleeve is introduced as an intermediary structure in the vena cava to control and direct blood flow. The sleeve creates a controlled pathway that prevents reverse flow while allowing the pump to operate effectively. This mediator structure simplifies the overall control mechanism compared to more complex valve systems.
4Productivity
If the impeller is designed to rotate at high speed to effectively pump blood, then pumping efficiency is improved, but the risk of damaging renal tissue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cage serves as a protective intermediary that enables the impeller to rotate at high speeds for effective pumping while physically preventing the impeller blades from contacting and damaging the renal vein wall and surrounding tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The cage is positioned and secured around the impeller before the pump is activated. This preliminary protective arrangement ensures that when the impeller rotates at high speed, the protective barrier is already in place, preventing tissue damage from the outset.
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 solution effectively reduces renal vein pressure, enhances kidney perfusion, and maintains lower venous pressure, thereby alleviating cardiac and renal dysfunctions by improving blood flow dynamics.
Implementation Method 1
an impeller configured, in a radially-expanded configuration thereof, to pump blood through the blood vessel by rotating
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods are described including using an occluding element that is placed in a vein of the patient at a downstream location that is downstream of a tributary vessel that supplies the vein, at least partially mechanically occluding the vein of the patient at the downstream location, such as to form a compartment within the vein that is isolated from a downstream region of the vein that is downstream of the tributary vessel. Using a blood pump that is placed in the compartment, blood is mechanically pumping through the vein from the compartment to a discharge location in the downstream region while the vein is at least partially occluded, wherein the blood remains in the vein throughout the mechanical pumping of the blood from the compartment to the discharge location. Other applications are also described.