Self-Expandable Tissue Adherence for Prolonged Active Agent Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for delivering active agents to tissues, particularly those with mucus-lined surfaces, face challenges due to insufficient adhesion and residence time, often requiring invasive applicators and mucoadhesive components that are difficult to disperse and control.
Innovation Solution
Self-expandable devices with a deformable film containing a gel-forming material that swells upon contact with liquid, driving a tissue-attachable layer, such as a mucoadhesive material, to adhere to tissues, ensuring controlled deployment and prolonged contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If catheter-based delivery systems are used to administer active agents to the brain, then non-invasive delivery is achieved, but the blood-brain barrier prevents effective drug delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state and properties of the delivery system by using temperature-controlled shape memory alloys. The alloy transitions from a compressed low-profile state at lower temperatures to an expanded high-profile state at higher temperatures (body temperature), enabling the system to navigate the catheter in a compact form and then expand at the target site to deliver drugs through the blood-brain barrier effectively
Solution Approach 2:
The shape memory alloy undergoes a phase transition between austenite and martensite phases in response to temperature changes. This phase transition enables the delivery system to change its structural configuration from compressed to expanded state, allowing it to pass through the catheter and then expand at the implantation site to overcome the blood-brain barrier obstruction
2Ease of operation
If expandable devices are deployed in blood vessels, then access to hard-to-reach tissues is enabled, but the devices must be compressed for delivery which limits their final configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system employs a dynamic shape memory alloy structure that can change its configuration in response to thermal stimuli. The device transitions from a static compressed state during delivery to a dynamic expanded state at the target site, enabling access to hard-to-reach tissues while maintaining the ability to assume the appropriate final configuration through temperature-induced shape transformation
Solution Approach 2:
The expandable device is nested within a delivery catheter in a compressed state, similar to a nested doll structure. The active implantable device is contained within the catheter lumen, allowing it to be delivered through blood vessels to hard-to-reach tissues. Once positioned, the device expands from its nested compressed state to its functional expanded state, achieving the desired configuration at the target site
3Extent of automation
If shape memory alloys are used for expandable devices, then automated deployment is achieved, but the alloys are fragile and difficult to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The shape memory alloy structure is divided into multiple segments or struts that can be manufactured separately and then assembled. This segmentation allows each component to be fabricated using standard manufacturing techniques, reducing the difficulty of working with fragile shape memory alloys. The segmented components are then connected to form the complete expandable device, enabling automated deployment while maintaining ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction where the shape memory alloy is combined with other materials to create a more robust and manufacturable device. The composite structure may include the shape memory alloy integrated with polymer components, coatings, or other structural elements that enhance manufacturability while preserving the automated deployment capability provided by the shape memory effect
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 devices provide effective and controlled adhesion of mucoadhesive layers to tissues, enabling prolonged delivery and absorption of active agents, while being non-invasive and suitable for internal organs.
Implementation Method 1
The device includes an active implantable device comprising a shape memory alloy in a compressed state configured to navigate through a lumen of a catheter and in an expanded state different from the compressed state
Implementation Method 2
expanding the active implantable device from the compressed state to the expanded state thereby delivering the active agents from the blood stream into the brain
Data Source
Figure 1A~1E
Figure 1F~1G
Figure 2A~2F
AI summary
This disclosure concerns expandable devices, specifically self-deployed devices, for adherence to a tissue, for example intestinal tissue. The disclosure also concerns expandable devices, specifically self-deployed devices for delivery of at least one active agent to, or across, a tissue.