Stent Assist Bar Positioning for Precise Vascular Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vascular stent deployment methods are imprecise due to the limitations of fluoroscopy, which provides minimal soft tissue imaging, leading to mispositioning and potential complications such as stent-induced flow obstruction and thrombosis, especially at vessel confluences, and stent aging issues like fracture and occlusion.
Innovation Solution
A stent deployment apparatus with a stent assist bar and an intravascular balloon system that allows precise positioning of stents by using a delivery sheath, pusher shaft, and adjustable stent assist bars or balloons to engage vessel features, ensuring accurate deployment at desired locations within the vasculature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If fluoroscopy is used for guiding stent deployment, then the procedure can be performed minimally invasively, but the imaging precision is insufficient leading to mispositioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a stent assist bar as an intermediary tool that extends from the delivery catheter tip to engage with known vascular features (such as vessel bifurcations or landmarks). This assist bar serves as a physical mediator between the catheter and the target deployment location, enabling precise stent positioning by anchoring to identifiable vascular structures that can be confirmed through multiple imaging modalities including angiograms and intravascular ultrasound.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces reliance on purely fluoroscopic imaging guidance with a mechanical assistance system. Instead of depending solely on visual estimation under fluoroscopy, the system uses a tangible stent assist bar that can be physically positioned and engaged with vascular features, providing tactile and mechanical feedback to the operator for accurate stent deployment at the intended location.
2Reliability
If stent is deployed at the confluence of blood vessels, then it can treat stenosis effectively, but it may impede flow in crossed pathways causing jailing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by using the stent assist bar to engage with and identify known vascular features (such as bifurcations or confluences) before deploying the stent. This allows the operator to pre-determine the exact deployment location relative to vascular landmarks, ensuring the stent is positioned to treat the stenosis while avoiding encroachment on crossed pathways. The assist bar serves as a guide to achieve the correct spatial relationship with surrounding vessels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by positioning the stent assist bar specifically at the deployment location to engage with local vascular features. This localized engagement point allows for precise control over stent placement in relation to nearby vessels, enabling the operator to adjust the stent position to treat the stenosis while preserving flow pathways of crossed vessels through careful engagement with the specific vascular landmark at the confluence.
3Ease of operation
If catheter manipulation is performed to reach the deployment site, then the stent can be delivered to the target location, but the tissues are distorted and distended altering the anatomical dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The stent assist bar acts as an intermediary that bridges the gap between the delivery catheter and the target deployment site. By extending from the catheter tip to engage with known vascular features, it provides a stable reference point that is less affected by catheter-induced tissue distortion. The assist bar can be engaged with anatomical landmarks that remain relatively stable despite manipulation, allowing for accurate positioning even when surrounding tissues are distorted.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables feedback by allowing the operator to engage the stent assist bar with known vascular features and verify positioning through imaging modalities that can detect these landmarks. This feedback mechanism allows for adjustment of the stent position relative to the assist bar engagement point, compensating for any tissue distortion that occurred during catheter manipulation to achieve the intended deployment location.
Data Source
AI summary
A stent deployment apparatus is configured to be contained within a deployment sheath, and deploy a vascular stent at a deployment site in a blood vessel of vasculature of a body. The stent deployment apparatus includes a delivery sheath, a pusher shaft coupled to the delivery sheath, and at least one stent assist bar associated with the delivery sheath and movable between a retracted position and a deployed position responsive to separation from the deployment sheath, the at least one stent assist bar being adapted to be positioned in relation to a known feature of the vasculature. The pusher shaft is movable with respect to delivery sheath in order to vary the spatial relationship between the vascular stent and the at least one stent assist bar, and thereby dispose the vascular stent to a desired spacing within the blood vessel.