Bioabsorbable Stent With Open Spiral Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current stents often migrate and clog, requiring additional procedures for extraction and/or replacement, which are costly and risky for patients, especially in conditions like chronic pancreatitis where fibrotic strictures necessitate frequent stent exchanges.
Innovation Solution
A stent with open spiral channels on its exterior surface and a central lumen for guide wire passage, made from bioabsorbable polymers, designed to optimize fluid flow and prevent migration, with adjustable rotation rates and anti-migration features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional stents are used to treat fibrotic strictures, then the stent can provide initial support, but the stent routinely migrates and clogs requiring frequent extraction and replacement procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates a helical curvature along its longitudinal axis, transforming the straight cylindrical form into a spiral configuration. This curvature enables the stent to engage with the ductal wall in a screw-like manner, providing anchoring effect that prevents migration while maintaining patency over extended periods
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a spiral dimension to the traditional linear stent structure. By introducing helical channels and overall curvature, the stent transitions from a simple tube to a three-dimensional spiral form that provides both structural support and anti-migration properties through geometric engagement with the ductal wall
2Reliability
If multiple plastic stents are sequentially placed for six to twelve months with exchanges every three months, then fibrotic strictures can be treated, but the procedures are expensive and increase risks for patients
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates multiple helical channels that provide excessive fluid flow capacity beyond what a single channel would offer. This redundancy ensures that even if one channel becomes partially obstructed, the others maintain patency, thereby extending the functional lifespan of the stent and reducing the need for frequent replacements
Solution Approach 2:
The stent combines multiple functions into a single device: it provides structural support for the stricture, creates anti-migration anchoring through helical curvature, and enables fluid drainage through multiple channels. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for sequential stent placements and reduces the number of procedural interventions required
3Reliability
If stents are designed with open spiral channels on the exterior surface, then fluid flow is optimized and migration is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stent body is segmented into multiple helical channels that run spirally along the exterior surface. These segmented channels divide the fluid flow path into multiple independent pathways, optimizing fluid dynamics while the overall helical structure provides anti-migration anchoring. The segmentation allows complex functionality to be achieved through repeated modular patterns
Data Source
AI summary
A stent is disclosed that has an elongated body having a proximal end, a distal end, at least one open spiral channel formed on the exterior surface of the body to provide fluid communication between the proximal end and the distal end. The stent also has a central lumen open at the proximal and distal ends of the stent for the passage of a guide wire. A method for using the stent and a kit containing the stent are also disclosed.