Vascular Closure Anchor and Needle Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vascular closure devices are complex, invasive, and often enlarge the vessel opening, making them difficult to use and less effective in closing vessel walls after medical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A vascular closure system comprising a body portion, an expandable anchor, a suture carrying portion, and a plurality of needles that deploy and retract to position sutures across the vessel wall, allowing for efficient tissue approximation and minimally invasive closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If prior closure devices are used to close vessel openings, then tissue approximation can be achieved, but the devices enlarge the vessel opening and increase invasiveness
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of enlarging the vessel opening to deliver closure devices, this invention delivers the closure device through a standard percutaneous sheath and then uses the anchor to engage the vessel wall, effectively closing the opening from the inside without enlarging it. The approach inverts the traditional sequence by first establishing access through a standard sheath, then deploying the closure mechanism that pulls the vessel walls together.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure device is nested within the percutaneous sheath during delivery, with the anchor, suture carrying portion, and needles all contained within the sheath body. This nested configuration allows the entire closure system to be delivered through a standard sheath without requiring enlargement of the vessel opening, while the components are sequentially deployed from the nested structure.
2Reliability
If prior suturing devices are used to approximate tissue, then vessel openings can be closed, but the devices and methods become complicated and difficult to use
Solution Approach 1:
This invention combines multiple functions into a single integrated device: the anchor provides mechanical engagement with the vessel wall, the suture carrying portion stores and delivers the suture material, and the needles penetrate the vessel wall to approximate the tissue. This merged design eliminates the need for multiple separate devices and complex manual manipulation, allowing the physician to deploy the entire closure system through a single coordinated action.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs self-service functions where the anchor automatically engages the vessel wall upon deployment, the suture is automatically fed through the needles as they penetrate the tissue, and the needles themselves serve as both the penetration tool and the suture delivery mechanism. This self-service capability reduces the complexity of manual operation and makes the device easier to use.
3Ease of operation
If standard percutaneous sheaths are used for access, then minimally invasive procedures are enabled, but the resulting vessel opening requires complex closure
Solution Approach 1:
The percutaneous sheath serves multiple functions: it provides the access pathway through the vessel wall, contains and protects the closure device components during delivery, and acts as the delivery mechanism for deploying the anchor, suture, and needles. This universal use of the standard sheath for both access and closure eliminates the need for specialized complex access devices while maintaining minimally invasive benefits.
Data Source
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AI summary
A vascular closure system includes a body portion (12), an anchor (60,62), a suture carrying portion (16), and a plurality of needles (18). The body portion has a distal end surface (52). The anchor is positionable through a vessel puncture in a vessel wall of a vessel. The anchor defines a vessel contact surface, wherein withdrawal of the anchor captures a portion of the vessel wall between the vessel contact surface and the distal end surface. The suture carrying portion is positionable through the vessel puncture and carries at least one suture member. The plurality of needles extend through the portion of the vessel wall adjacent to the vessel puncture and are configured to connect to the at least one suture member. Withdrawal of the plurality of needles through the portion of the vessel wall positions the at least one suture member through the portion of the vessel wall.