Semipermeable Membrane Catheter for Hypervolemia Water Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hypervolemia, a condition characterized by excessive fluid volume in the blood due to chronic kidney disease or heart failure, leads to hypertension and shortness of breath, necessitating effective management to improve quality of life and prevent disease exacerbation.
Innovation Solution
A catheter with a semipermeable membrane at its distal end, designed to allow water to permeate from the bloodstream into an influent with a higher osmotic concentration, creating an effluent with a lower osmotic concentration, while excluding larger blood-borne metabolites, is used in conjunction with a fluid-collection system to remove excess water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a semipermeable membrane is used to remove water from the bloodstream, then water removal efficiency is improved, but the risk of blood-borne metabolites and cells passing through the membrane increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a semipermeable membrane with specifically controlled porous structure that allows water molecules to pass through while blocking larger blood-borne metabolites and cells. The pore size and distribution are engineered to achieve selective permeability, enabling efficient water removal while maintaining safety by preventing harmful substances from passing into the influent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes osmotic concentration differences as a driving parameter to control the selective transport of water through the semipermeable membrane. By maintaining a higher osmotic concentration in the influent compared to the effluent, the system creates an osmotic gradient that promotes water removal while the membrane's physical structure ensures that only water, not harmful metabolites or cells, passes through.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the semipermeable membrane pore size is reduced to exclude larger blood-borne metabolites, then safety is improved, but water flux through the membrane decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a semipermeable membrane with specifically controlled porous structure that allows water molecules to pass through while blocking larger blood-borne metabolites and cells. The pore size and distribution are engineered to achieve selective permeability, enabling efficient water removal while maintaining safety by preventing harmful substances from passing into the influent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes osmotic concentration differences as a driving parameter to control the selective transport of water through the semipermeable membrane. By maintaining a higher osmotic concentration in the influent compared to the effluent, the system creates an osmotic gradient that promotes water removal while the membrane's physical structure ensures that only water, not harmful metabolites or cells, passes through.
3Device complexity
If a single-lumen catheter is used to simplify the device structure, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to separately convey influent and effluent is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single lumen into functionally distinct segments: a proximal portion for receiving influent, a distal portion with semipermeable membrane for water removal, and an egress pathway for effluent. This segmentation allows the single-lumen catheter to perform multiple functions sequentially, maintaining structural simplicity while enabling separate conveyance of influent and effluent through spatial organization within the single lumen.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent resolves the conflict between single-lumen simplicity and dual-functionality by utilizing the spatial dimension along the catheter length. The proximal, distal, and intermediate portions are arranged along the longitudinal axis, allowing influent to enter at one end, water to be removed through the membrane at the distal end, and effluent to exit through the same lumen at a different location, thus achieving functional separation without increasing luminal 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
The catheter effectively reduces fluid overload by facilitating the removal of excess water from the bloodstream, thereby alleviating hypertension and shortness of breath, and potentially reducing the frequency and duration of dialysis sessions.
Implementation Method 1
The semipermeable membrane is configured to allow water in a patient's vessel to permeate through the semipermeable membrane into an influent having a first osmotic concentration conveyed by the luminal ingress to produce an effluent having a second osmotic concentration conveyed by the luminal egress, wherein the second osmotic concentration is lower than the first osmotic concentration.
Implementation Method 2
The influent is an aqueous solution including a dissolved polymer. The first osmotic concentration is sufficient to create an osmotic potential for removing the water from the vessel in excess of that the patient needs through the semipermeable membrane.
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter (100) for treating hypervolemia in a patient includes a luminal ingress (112) joined to a luminal egress (114) at a distal end portion (116) of the catheter having a closed distal end (102). The distal end portion is configured to at least temporarily reside within a vessel of the patient, the distal end portion including a semipermeable membrane. The luminal ingress is designed to convey an influent having a first osmotic concentration to the distal end portion. The semipermeable membrane is configured to pass blood-borne water from the vessel into the distal portion. The blood-borne water is absorbed by the influent to produce an effluent having a second osmotic concentration lower than the first osmotic concentration. Systems (200) with the catheter and methods for treating hypervolemia are also disclosed.