Self-Expanding Vascular Prosthesis with Tapered Side Branches
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current self-expanding vascular prostheses face challenges in effectively treating thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysms due to complex anatomy and the need for precise sizing and integration with branching arteries, often requiring invasive procedures and complicating the reconstruction of major organ arteries.
Innovation Solution
A self-expanding vascular prosthesis with a hollow-cylindrical trunk and side branches, featuring central longitudinal portions that taper in one circumferential part, allowing for easier expansion and integration with side vessels, and designed to accommodate stent grafts for reliable blood supply to visceral arteries, reducing pressure on the vessel wall.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the vascular prosthesis trunk has a constant diameter throughout, then the structural simplicity is maintained, but the integration with side vessels of varying diameters becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The vascular prosthesis trunk features local quality variations through tapered central longitudinal portions that reduce diameter in specific circumferential regions. This allows different sections of the trunk to have different diameters, enabling precise integration with side vessels of varying sizes while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through localized geometric modifications
2Volume of moving object
If the central longitudinal portions taper over the entire circumference, then the diameter reduction is maximized for side branch integration, but the structural stability and uniform pressure distribution are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The tapering is applied locally to specific circumferential portions rather than uniformly across the entire circumference. This localized approach allows diameter reduction in regions where side branches are needed while preserving structural stability and uniform pressure distribution in other regions of the prosthesis trunk
Solution Approach 2:
The central longitudinal portions exhibit asymmetric geometry with tapering in specific directional orientations. This asymmetric design enables selective diameter reduction on one side or portion of the circumference while maintaining the overall structural integrity and symmetric load-bearing capacity of the cylindrical prosthesis body
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple side branches are integrated into the prosthesis trunk, then the blood supply to multiple side vessels is ensured, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthesis is segmented into distinct functional zones including proximal and distal longitudinal portions with constant diameter and central longitudinal portions with tapered geometry. Side branches are strategically positioned at these segmentation interfaces, allowing multiple vascular connections while maintaining a modular structural organization that simplifies manufacturing and assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The side branches are integrally merged with the prosthesis trunk through the tapered central longitudinal portions, creating a unified structure where the trunk and branches form a single continuous component. This integration eliminates the need for separate assembly steps while ensuring seamless blood flow transitions between the main trunk and side vessels
4Ease of operation
If the prosthesis is designed for self-expansion, then the minimally invasive implantation is achieved, but the precision of expansion and integration with surrounding vessels becomes more difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthesis utilizes parameter changes in the geometric configuration of the central longitudinal portions, specifically the controlled tapering angles and circumferential extent of tapered regions. These parameter variations are designed to work synergistically with the self-expanding mechanism, ensuring that as the prosthesis expands to its final diameter, the tapered portions naturally align and integrate with side vessels of corresponding dimensions
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 successful bridging of thoraco-abdominal aneurysms while ensuring blood supply to side vessels, facilitating less invasive procedures and reducing complications by providing expandable docking points for stent grafts and minimizing additional pressure on the vessel wall.
Implementation Method 1
By virtue of the resilience of the metal frame or framework, the vascular implant expands again to its original shape and in so doing stretches its surface
Implementation Method 2
The wire mesh or the stent springs are usually made of a shape-memory material, generally of Nitinol, as a result of which, after insertion into a vessel for release, the stent springs return to the expanded state and thus 'open up' the vascular implant
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a self-expanding vascular prosthesis for implantation in a blood vessel of a patient, comprising a hollow-cylindrical base body, a vascular prosthetic trunk having a first and a second opening, and at least two vascular prosthesis side branches which are outgoing from the vascular prosthetic trunk and are formed integrally with the vascular prosthetic trunk. The vascular prosthetic trunk has sections which comprise a tapered peripheral part, in which the vascular prosthesis side branches are mounted.