Prosthetic Valve Crimping Sock for Rigid Valve Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional crimping devices are limited in their ability to effectively crimp medical devices such as stents and prosthetic valves, especially those made from rigid materials, and lack portability and mechanical advantage, making them unsuitable for larger devices and devices with non-crimped components.
Innovation Solution
The development of crimping devices with out-of-plane motion mechanisms, such as axial motion perpendicular to the crimping plane, and the use of sloped guiderails or conical surfaces to drive crimping jaws, allowing for radial compression and improved access to medical devices, along with funnel-shaped designs and rotating rollers for crimping and transporting medical devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a static conical tube is used to crimp stents, then the crimping process is simple, but it is ineffective for stents formed from rigid or stiffer materials and those with high radial force
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic crimping jaws that can change diameter, replacing the static conical tube. The jaws are driven by a mechanism that allows them to actively compress the stent radially, providing adaptive force distribution that works effectively with rigid materials and complex stent designs while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the simple mechanical conical tube compression system with a more sophisticated jaw-driven mechanism that uses controlled radial motion. This substitution enables effective crimping of rigid stents by distributing compressive forces through multiple contact points on the stent surface.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional crimping devices are designed for large diameter stents, then they can accommodate larger devices, but their size and weight increase, reducing portability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs out-of-plane motion where the crimping jaws move perpendicular to the plane of crimping. This dimensional approach allows the mechanism to achieve large diameter crimping capability while maintaining a compact footprint, as the motion occurs in a direction that does not increase the device's planar dimensions, thereby preserving portability.
3Device complexity
If conventional crimping devices use in-plane mechanisms, then the design is simple, but they are limited in size, weight, crimping strength, and mechanical advantage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes out-of-plane motion perpendicular to the crimping plane to drive the crimping jaws. This approach provides significant mechanical advantage by leveraging the geometry of the motion path, enabling generation of high crimping forces without requiring complex in-plane mechanisms. The perpendicular motion creates a more efficient force transmission system.
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
These devices provide enhanced portability, mechanical advantage, and the ability to crimp a wider range of medical devices, including larger prosthetic valves, while allowing non-crimped components to remain in their original configuration, improving the precision and efficiency of the crimping process.
Implementation Method 1
The crimping jaws can be driven by a mechanism out of plane with the plane of crimping, such as axial motion that is perpendicular to the plane of crimping. The use of sloped guiderails or conical surfaces to drive crimping jaws provides enhanced mechanical advantage.
Data Source
AI summary
A crimping system for a prosthetic heart valve comprises an elongate rigid body and a radially flexible, tubular sock. The body has an inner lumen extending along a central longitudinal axis between an insertion end and an outlet end. The inner lumen has a greater diameter at the insertion end than at the outlet end. The sock is configured to receive a radially compressible prosthetic heart valve in a radially expanded state within the sock and to pull the valve through the inner lumen of the rigid body from the insertion end to the outlet end with the sock being positioned between an outer surface of the valve and an inner surface of the rigid body. The valve is radially compressed by the inner surface of the rigid body as the sock pulls the valve along the longitudinal axis toward the outlet end of the lumen.