Tapered Vascular Bypass Device Anchoring and Flow Diversion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical methods for coronary heart disease, such as coronary bypass surgery, are invasive and pose significant risks and trauma, making them unsuitable for certain patients due to high surgical trauma, risk of infection, and long recovery times.
Innovation Solution
A minimally invasive surgical technique involving a device with a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion that tapers between them, where the graft material is coupled to the intermediate portion, allowing for expansion against the sidewalls of passages to create a bypass between arteries and veins, thereby diverting fluid flow and maintaining it through a third passage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional coronary bypass surgery is performed, then fluid flow is restored through bypassing blockages, but surgical trauma and recovery time are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into three distinct segments: a first end portion for anchoring in the first passage, a second end portion for anchoring in the second passage, and an intermediate portion that creates and supports the third passage. This segmentation allows the device to be inserted through a minimally invasive approach while still achieving the complex function of creating a bypass between two passages, thereby restoring fluid flow without requiring open-chest surgery
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate portion of the device acts as an intermediary element that creates a new third passage between the first and second passages. This intermediate structure serves as a mediator that connects the two passages, allowing fluid to flow from the first passage through the newly created third passage to the second passage, thereby achieving bypass functionality without direct connection between the original passages
2Reliability
If conventional coronary bypass surgery is performed, then fluid flow is restored through bypassing blockages, but risk of infection and device complexity are increased
Solution Approach 1:
Different portions of the device have different structural properties tailored to their specific functions: the end portions are designed with anchoring features for securing the device in passages, while the intermediate portion is designed with expandable features for creating the third passage. This local differentiation of structural qualities allows the device to achieve complex bypass functionality through a relatively simple overall structure, reducing device complexity while maintaining effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates dynamic features that allow it to transition from a compressed delivery state to an expanded deployed state. The intermediate portion can be expanded to create the third passage, and the end portions can be expanded to anchor in the passages. This dynamic capability allows a single device structure to achieve multiple functions (anchoring, passage creation, and fluid flow restoration) without requiring multiple separate components, thereby reducing overall device complexity
3Reliability
If conventional coronary bypass surgery is performed, then fluid flow is restored through bypassing blockages, but recovery time is significantly extended
Solution Approach 1:
The device replaces the mechanical open-chest surgical system with a minimally invasive delivery system. Instead of requiring sternotomy and direct surgical access to the heart, the device can be delivered through a catheter or minimally invasive access route and deployed within the passages. This substitution of the delivery mechanism dramatically reduces surgical trauma and associated recovery time while maintaining the therapeutic effect of restoring fluid flow through bypassing blockages
Data Source
AI summary
A device includes a first end portion, a second end portion, an intermediate portion between the first end portion and the second end portion, and a graft material coupled to at least the intermediate portion. The first end portion has a first end diameter. The second end portion has a second end diameter larger than the first end diameter. The intermediate portion tapers between the first end portion and the second end portion. A method of diverting fluid flow from a first passage to a second passage comprising deploying the device in a third passage between the first passage and the second passage, expanding the first end portion against sidewalls of the first passage, and expanding the second end portion against sidewalls of the second passage.