Shunt with Offset Anchor Arms for Cardiac Pressure Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for monitoring cardiac pressure and treating congestive heart failure are inadequate, as they often rely on invasive procedures, unreliable symptoms, and indirect measurements, which can lead to delayed diagnosis and ineffective treatments.
Innovation Solution
The development of shunt implant devices with circumferentially-offset arms and chevron struts for blood flow shunting between heart chambers, integrated with pressure sensors for direct monitoring of cardiac pressures, allowing for proactive intervention in congestive heart failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If invasive procedures and indirect measurements are used for monitoring cardiac pressure, then the diagnostic capability is achieved, but the reliability and timeliness of diagnosis deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces invasive mechanical pressure transducers with a shunt device that uses the natural pressure gradient between heart chambers to drive fluid flow. The shunt creates a controlled pathway where pressure differential directly drives flow from high-pressure to low-pressure chambers, eliminating the need for invasive sensors while maintaining accurate pressure monitoring through the natural hemodynamic gradient.
Solution Approach 2:
The shunt device utilizes the body's own pressure gradient to drive the monitoring mechanism. By positioning the shunt to span two chambers with different pressures, the system self-regulates based on the natural pressure difference, eliminating the need for external power sources or invasive sensing elements. The pressure differential itself becomes the driving force for both shunting and monitoring.
2Measurement precision
If invasive procedures are used for cardiac pressure monitoring, then measurement capability is achieved, but patient comfort and procedure complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces invasive pressure transducers and catheter-based monitoring systems with a shunt device that creates a passive flow pathway. The shunt structure spans cardiac chambers and allows pressure-driven flow without requiring invasive sensor placement, thereby maintaining measurement capability while significantly reducing procedure invasiveness and improving patient comfort.
3Ease of operation
If symptomatic monitoring is relied upon for heart failure detection, then diagnostic approach is simplified, but detection timing and effectiveness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The shunt device provides continuous, passive monitoring of cardiac pressure dynamics through the natural pressure gradient-driven flow. This self-regulating mechanism eliminates the need for active symptomatic reporting by patients or complex electronic monitoring systems, while enabling continuous detection of pressure changes that indicate heart failure progression, thereby reducing diagnostic delay without complicating the monitoring approach.
Data Source
AI summary
A shunt device includes a cylindrical barrel portion formed of a plurality of struts arranged in a chevron pattern, a plurality of proximal anchor features emanating from a first axial end of the barrel portion, and a plurality of distal anchor arms emanating from a second axial end of the barrel portion, the plurality of distal anchor arms having a length that is greater than a length of the proximal anchor features.