Shape-Memory Bioabsorbable Materials for Adaptive Tissue Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical staplers face challenges in accommodating varying tissue thickness, leading to issues such as leakage and tearing due to inconsistent staple height selection, and require materials that can adjust mechanical properties to ensure effective tissue compression and promote healing.
Innovation Solution
A bioabsorbable material with shape-memory polymers and stimuli-responsive functional groups that transition between linear and non-linear states upon stimulation, allowing for adjustable mechanical properties to compensate for tissue thickness variations and promote tissue ingrowth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional surgical staplers use fixed mechanical properties in stapled tissue, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the device cannot adapt to varying tissue thickness leading to leakage and tearing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by incorporating stimuli-responsive functional groups that enable the polymer to dynamically change its mechanical properties in response to environmental stimuli (pH, temperature, ionic strength). This allows the material to adapt its compression force and mechanical strength according to varying tissue thickness and physiological conditions, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by designing polymers whose physical and chemical parameters (degree of crosslinking, functional group concentration, molecular weight) can be adjusted to control mechanical properties. The stimuli-responsive functional groups undergo reversible chemical transformations that change material parameters like compression modulus and swelling ratio, enabling adaptation to different tissue thicknesses while maintaining a relatively simple base polymer structure.
2Reliability
If surgical staplers require consistent staple height for all tissue thicknesses, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the device fails to accommodate varying tissue thickness leading to leakage and tearing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining base polymers with stimuli-responsive functional groups to create a composite polymer system. This composite structure integrates the mechanical strength of the base polymer with the adaptive properties of the functional groups, enabling reliable tissue compression across varying thicknesses. The composite material approach allows consistent performance without requiring complex external control systems or multiple staple height specifications.
3Adaptability or versatility
If bioabsorbable materials are designed to maintain constant mechanical properties, then the material formulation is simple, but the material cannot promote optimal tissue healing and ingrowth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action through the time-dependent degradation and swelling behavior of the bioabsorbable polymer. The material exhibits periodic changes in mechanical properties as it degrades and swells over time, creating favorable conditions for tissue ingrowth at different stages of healing. This temporal periodicity in material properties promotes optimal tissue integration without requiring complex multi-stage manufacturing processes.
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 material ensures consistent tissue compression and minimizes leakage and tearing by adapting to varying tissue thickness, while promoting healing and reducing inflammation through tissue ingrowth.
Implementation Method 1
a shape-memory polymer compressible in a delivery configuration and configured to swell within a predetermined period of time. The shape-memory polymer includes one or more functional groups for reversible bonding between adjacent functional groups to transition between an approximately linear polymer and an approximately non-linear polymer upon exposure to a stimulation.
Implementation Method 2
one or more functional groups for reversible bonding between adjacent functional groups to transition between an approximately linear polymer and an approximately non-linear polymer upon exposure to a stimulation
Implementation Method 3
one or more functional groups for reversible bonding between adjacent functional groups to transition between an approximately linear polymer and an approximately non-linear polymer upon exposure to a stimulation
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed technology includes a bioabsorbable material configured to be delivered to tissue. The material includes a shape-memory polymer compressible in a delivery configuration and configured to swell within a predetermined period of time. The shape-memory polymer includes one or more functional groups for reversible bonding between adjacent functional groups to transition between an approximately linear polymer and an approximately non-linear polymer upon exposure to a stimulation.