U-Shaped Suture Delivery for Secure Graft Attachment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current remote surgical and interventional procedures face challenges in securely attaching grafts to patient vessels, leading to complications such as endovascular leaks and aneurysm failures due to the inability to place secure sutures, unlike open surgery.
Innovation Solution
A suture delivery system comprising a housing with a deployment element and actuator that releases a suture in a U-shaped configuration with sharpened tips to penetrate both the graft and vessel wall, and a biasing mechanism to secure the suture in place, allowing for multiple sutures to be deployed to clamp and hold the graft firmly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If percutaneous graft placement is used to avoid open surgery trauma, then patient trauma and surgical complications are reduced, but secure attachment of graft to vessel wall cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The suture is divided into multiple segments including a U-shaped portion with two legs for penetrating the graft and vessel wall, and a tail portion for securing. This segmentation allows the suture to function both as a penetrating anchor and a securing element, achieving reliable graft attachment through percutaneous delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The suture is configured in a curved or U-shaped configuration rather than a straight line. This curvature enables the suture to loop through the graft and vessel wall, creating a mechanical interlock that provides secure attachment while being delivered through a minimally invasive percutaneous approach.
2Ease of operation
If remote surgical procedures are used to minimize invasiveness, then surgical trauma is reduced, but the ability to place secure sutures is lost
Solution Approach 1:
A delivery catheter system serves as an intermediary device that guides and deploys the curved suture through percutaneous access to the target site. The catheter system enables precise placement of the suture's U-shaped portion through the graft and vessel wall without requiring open surgical exposure, maintaining both minimally invasive access and placement precision.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If endovascular grafts are placed without sutures to maintain minimally invasive benefits, then surgical trauma is reduced, but endovascular leaks and aneurysm failures increase
Solution Approach 1:
The curved suture is pre-configured in a U-shaped configuration before delivery, with the curve oriented to facilitate penetration through the graft and vessel wall. This preliminary configuration ensures that upon deployment, the suture automatically forms the secure anchoring structure needed to prevent endovascular leaks and graft migration, maintaining the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, devices and methods described herein relate to endovascular devices for delivering sutures for securing grafts or other objects to patient vessels. In some embodiments, a suture includes a set of two legs having proximal ends joined to each other and elongate bodies that extend parallel to one another such that the set of two legs form a U-shaped structure. A suture delivery system can include a housing configured to contain a suture in a flattened configuration, and a deployment element having a ribbon-shaped distal portion disposed in the housing and including a set of formations, where the housing and the set of formations of the deployment element are configured to collectively constrain the suture in the flattened configuration until the suture is released through the opening of the housing.