Retrievable Fallopian Tube Occluder With Anti-Ingrowth Barrier
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contraceptive methods, particularly those involving fallopian tubes, lack a reversible and effective means to prevent pregnancy without permanent alteration, and there is a need for a device that can be easily deployed and retrieved while maintaining reproductive functionality.
Innovation Solution
A contraceptive device with an expandable frame and impermeable barrier that expands to block the fallopian tube, featuring a retrieval element for removal, and includes a design that prevents tissue ingrowth and allows for mechanical disruption to restore fertility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sterilization procedures involve permanent occlusion or ligation of fallopian tubes, then pregnancy prevention is achieved, but reproductive functionality is permanently lost
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a dynamic design that transitions between two states: deployed state for contraception and collapsed state for retrieval. The frame can be compressed into a delivery catheter for insertion, then expanded to occlude the fallopian tube, and later collapsed again for removal, enabling reversible control of reproductive functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The frame is designed to be nested within a delivery catheter during insertion. The collapsible frame fits inside the catheter in a compressed state, allowing minimally invasive delivery, then expands to its functional form for tube occlusion, and can be re-nested for retrieval
2Reliability
If a device is deployed to block the fallopian tube, then contraception effectiveness is improved, but device retrieval becomes difficult due to tissue ingrowth
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a flexible membrane that conforms to the fallopian tube geometry to create an effective seal for contraception. This flexible barrier prevents tissue ingrowth while maintaining occlusion effectiveness, and allows the device to be collapsed for retrieval without permanent anchoring to the tube wall
Solution Approach 2:
The frame's dynamic collapsibility enables easy retrieval by compressing the device back into its delivery catheter size, preventing permanent fixation to the tube wall and allowing removal when contraception is no longer desired
3Adaptability or versatility
If the device is made retrievable by designing it to collapse, then reproductive functionality can be restored, but the complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into a frame structure with multiple expandable elements that can be independently controlled. This segmentation allows the frame to be compressed into sections for delivery and retrieval, while expanding to provide effective tube occlusion, managing complexity through modular design
Data Source
AI summary
A contraceptive device is provided including an occluding component for deployment in a tubal lumen of a reproductive organ. The device includes an expandable frame reversibly expandable from a collapsed state to an expanded state and a barrier supported by the expandable frame. In the expanded state the barrier is disposed between the expandable frame and walls of the lumen to inhibit in-growth of cellular material into and onto the occluding component, and additionally the barrier is urged against walls of the tubal lumen to define at least two tube lumen sealing areas, disposed perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the walls of the tube lumen such that (i) the expandable frame is disposed between the two tubal lumen sealing surface, and (ii) passage of reproductive cells through the expandable frame, and through the tube lumen is blocked, therefore, creating a the complete blockage for liquids from a first part of the tube to a second part of the tube, downstream the first part. Other applications are also described.