Heart Valve Suture Crimping for Beating-Heart Leaflet Coaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimally invasive techniques for heart valve repair on a beating heart lack an effective method to secure heart valve leaflets together at a proper tension during an edge to edge repair, leading to inefficiencies and potential complications.
Innovation Solution
A suture crimping system is used to insert sutures into heart valve leaflets, with a movable gate that secures the sutures at an appropriate tension to maintain leaflet coaptation, employing a crimp body with locking grooves and a suture clamping gate to lock the sutures in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive techniques are used for heart valve repair on a beating heart, then patient trauma and recovery time are reduced, but the ability to securely secure leaflets at proper tension is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
A crimp device is introduced as an intermediary tool that delivers and secures sutures between the leaflets. The crimp device includes a crimp body with a loading aperture and a movable clamping gate that can be actuated to clamp the suture, providing reliable leaflet securing through the minimally invasive access without requiring open heart surgery
Solution Approach 2:
The suture and crimp device work together in a self-service manner where the suture is threaded through the crimp body's loading aperture and the movable gate is actuated to automatically clamp and secure the suture, maintaining leaflet coaptation without requiring additional complex securing mechanisms or open surgical intervention
2Reliability
If traditional open heart surgery is used for valve repair, then reliable valve repair can be achieved, but patient trauma and recovery time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the complex mechanical system of open heart surgery with a simplified minimally invasive mechanism. The crimp device with its movable clamping gate provides the necessary mechanical function of securing sutures through a small access point, eliminating the need for sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass while maintaining repair reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the operational parameters by performing the repair on a beating heart rather than a stopped heart, and by using a small minimally invasive access rather than a large open incision. The crimp device enables suture securing with controlled tension through its movable gate mechanism, achieving reliable repair under these altered parameters
3Stability of the object's composition
If sutures are used to secure leaflets during edge to edge repair, then leaflet coaptation can be achieved, but the ability to maintain proper tension is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The crimp device incorporates a movable clamping gate that can be dynamically actuated to clamp the suture. This dynamic mechanism allows the operator to adjust and maintain proper suture tension by moving the gate between clamped and unclamped states, providing effective tension control without complex additional mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The crimp device is segmented into a crimp body with a loading aperture and a separate movable clamping gate. This segmentation allows the gate to be independently actuated to clamp the suture, providing simple and effective tension control while maintaining leaflet coaptation stability
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are minimally invasive systems and methods for performing an edge to edge repair of a heart valve on a beating heart of a patient. One or more sutures are inserted into a plurality of leaflets of the heart valve while the heart is beating through a minimally invasive access. The sutures can be threaded through a suture crimp that is advanced to the leaflets. A movable gate on the suture crimp can be actuated to secure the sutures at an appropriate tension to maintain the leaflets in a coapted position.