Heart Valve Leaflet Anchors for Minimally Invasive Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Damaged heart valves, such as the mitral valve, can lead to regurgitation due to improper closure, which is often invasive to repair or replace, and current transvascular techniques lack effective devices for less invasive interventions.
Innovation Solution
A prosthetic device with two anchor portions that can be independently or simultaneously opened and closed, using a shaft and cap mechanism to secure to native valve leaflets, allowing for minimally invasive implantation and repair.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If open heart surgery is used to repair or replace damaged valves, then effective valve repair can be achieved, but the procedure becomes highly invasive with potential complications
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthetic device is divided into separate functional components including a delivery catheter, a prosthetic valve, and anchoring mechanisms that can be independently positioned and deployed. This segmentation allows the valve to be delivered through a transvascular approach rather than requiring open heart surgery, reducing invasiveness while maintaining repair effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The prosthetic valve is nested within the delivery catheter in a compressed state during delivery, then expanded to its functional size at the target location. This nesting approach enables minimally invasive delivery of a functional-sized valve through small vascular access points, avoiding the need for large surgical incisions
2Object-affected harmful factors
If transvascular techniques are used to implant prosthetic devices, then invasiveness is reduced, but effective sealing of native valves becomes difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery catheter is positioned and oriented correctly within the native valve structure before the prosthetic valve is deployed. This preliminary positioning ensures that the prosthetic valve will be accurately aligned with the native valve annulus, enabling effective sealing without requiring additional corrective maneuvers after deployment
Solution Approach 2:
The prosthetic valve incorporates expandable or adjustable components that can be dynamically sized and shaped after deployment to match the specific geometry of the patient's native valve. This dynamic adaptation allows the device to achieve effective sealing in various valve sizes and configurations while maintaining the benefits of minimally invasive delivery
3Reliability
If a prosthetic device with anchor portions is used to secure to native valve leaflets, then regurgitation is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring function is merged with the valve structure itself, where the prosthetic valve incorporates integrated anchoring elements that work together with the valve leaflets to prevent regurgitation. This merging reduces the number of separate components compared to systems with distinct anchoring devices, thereby simplifying the overall device structure while maintaining effective regurgitation prevention
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable prosthetic device has two anchor portions. Each anchor portion is configured to attach the prosthetic device to a native valve leaflet. The two anchor portions can be opened both simultaneously by a single actuator and can also be opened independently by two or more separate actuators.