Stent Loading Device with Fluid Reservoir for Controlled Collapsing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stent loading devices face challenges in achieving a predictable and controlled collapsing state for expandable stents, particularly when delivering prosthetic heart valves, due to strain on structural elements and issues with moisture retention in biological materials, leading to difficulties in positioning and recapturing the stent within a delivery sheath.
Innovation Solution
A stent loading device with a successively decreasing inner diameter and a fluid-filled reservoir at the proximal end to maintain moisture and facilitate controlled collapsing, allowing for predictable and repeatable compression of the stent for translation through a delivery sheath, ensuring the stent's integrity and ease of deployment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a stent is collapsed for delivery through a catheter, then the device can be delivered minimally invasively, but the structural elements experience strain and biological materials lose moisture
Solution Approach 1:
The stent is nested within a loading device that has a successively decreasing inner diameter. The loading device acts as a series of nested concentric cylinders that progressively compress the stent from its expanded configuration to a collapsed delivery configuration, allowing the stent to be delivered through a catheter while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The loading device pre-compresses the stent to a predetermined collapsed configuration before delivery. This preliminary action ensures the stent is properly positioned and compressed to the correct dimensions for delivery through the catheter, preventing structural damage during the delivery process
2Ease of operation
If a stent is collapsed for delivery, then minimally invasive delivery is achieved, but biological materials experience moisture loss
Solution Approach 1:
A biocompatible fluid is introduced as an intermediary substance within the loading device to maintain moisture around the biological materials during compression and delivery. This fluid prevents dehydration of the biological materials while allowing the stent to be collapsed and delivered through the catheter
Solution Approach 2:
The loading device creates a protected environment that isolates the biological materials from the external dry environment during compression and delivery. This controlled environment prevents moisture loss and maintains the viability of biological materials throughout the delivery process
3Ease of operation
If the stent is compressed for delivery, then it can be delivered through the catheter, but precise positioning and recapturing become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The loading device incorporates a successively decreasing inner diameter that provides mechanical feedback during compression. This geometric constraint ensures the stent is compressed to a precise predetermined configuration, enabling accurate positioning and recapturing at the delivery site
Solution Approach 2:
The loading device changes the physical parameters of the stent in a controlled manner by progressively reducing the compression ratio as the stent moves through the successively decreasing diameter sections. This parameter change ensures the stent reaches a specific collapsed configuration that is optimal for both delivery and precise positioning
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
Enables precise and repeatable collapsing of stents for minimally invasive procedures, reducing stress on structural elements and maintaining the integrity of biological materials, thereby improving the delivery and positioning of prosthetic heart valves while preventing damage to valve tissue.
Implementation Method 1
A collapsible and expandable stent is collapsed within a loading device... A biocompatible fluid is introduced within the loading device to maintain moisture during collapsing of the stent
Data Source
AI summary
A device and method for predictably and controlling the collapsing of a collapsible and expandable stent for subsequent translation through a delivery sheath lumen to an anatomical target such as a heart valve or intravascular location for expansion and implantation. The loading device defines in inner lumen comprising a successively decreasing, from the proximal to the distal direction, inner diameter alternating between two sections of decreasing diameter and two sections of constant diameter until reaching the inner diameter of the delivery sheath. A fluid-filled reservoir is provided at the proximal end of the loading device that is configured to provide moisture or wetting for materials associated with or attached to the stent that require moisture retention. Thus, as the stent is being collapsed with the loading device, at least a portion of the stent may be immersed in the fluid reservoir to preserve the subject material.