Automated Vascular Closure Deployment Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current vascular closure devices require manual deployment, leading to subjective tactile manipulation, multiple procedural steps, low precision, and a long learning curve, which hampers ease of use, precision, and adoption in cardiac catheterization laboratories, resulting in prolonged patient recovery and increased complications.
Innovation Solution
A closure device with an automated deployment mechanism, comprising a footplate, plug, and wire, designed to minimize tactile manipulation and user-induced steps, featuring a monolithic footplate that can plastically deform and a biodegradable material for secure early ambulation, with a deployment device that uses elastic members and release mechanisms for precise placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If manual deployment of closure device is used, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision and placement accuracy deteriorate due to subjective tactile manipulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual tactile manipulation with an automated deployment mechanism that uses mechanical components (pusher, sheath, expansion elements) to precisely position and deploy the closure device. The system substitutes human sensory-based control with mechanical guidance structures including rails, slots, and interlocking components that objectively ensure accurate placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure device incorporates self-aligning and self-positioning features where the expansion elements automatically engage with the vessel wall and the pusher mechanism self-regulates deployment depth through mechanical constraints. The device serves itself by using the vessel anatomy and pre-configured mechanical guides to achieve precise placement without continuous manual adjustment.
2Manufacturing precision
If automated deployment mechanism is implemented, then placement precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment device is divided into distinct functional modules: a sheath for delivery, a pusher for advancement, expansion elements for deployment, and a release mechanism for activation. Each segment performs a specific function, allowing the complex overall system to be managed through modular components that can be independently manufactured and assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs nested structures where the pusher is contained within the sheath, expansion elements are folded within the pusher, and the entire assembly is delivered through a catheter. This nesting minimizes the profile during delivery while allowing sequential deployment of each component, managing complexity through compact integration.
3Ease of operation
If multiple procedural steps are required for deployment, then ease of operation deteriorates, but device reliability improves through controlled sequential actions
Solution Approach 1:
The closure device is pre-configured with expansion elements folded in specific orientations, the pusher is pre-positioned within the sheath, and mechanical constraints are pre-set to guide deployment. This preliminary preparation ensures that when deployment is initiated, the device follows a predetermined reliable sequence without requiring complex real-time adjustments by the operator.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a release mechanism as an intermediary that translates a simple operator action (pulling or releasing a tab) into a coordinated sequence of deployment events. This intermediary component mediates between the simple user input and the complex multi-step deployment process, maintaining reliability while improving ease of operation.
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
The solution provides a more precise, user-friendly, and efficient vascular closure with reduced procedural complexity, enabling faster patient recovery and lower complication rates by ensuring a secure and stable closure resistant to physiologic motion.
Implementation Method 1
at least one bias member adapted to exert a bias force
Implementation Method 2
a closure device (100) for sealing an opening (402) formed through biological tissue
Implementation Method 3
featuring a monolithic footplate that can plastically deform
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 1c
AI summary
The present invention relates a closure device implant for sealing an opening formed through biological tissue including a plug, a rigid wire including a plastically deformable portion configurable between an unrestrained position and a restrained position relative to the plug, wherein a distal end of the wire is substantially spherically shaped, and a footplate attached to the wire, wherein the footplate comprises an elongated plate portion including a wire channel. The present invention also relates to a closure device deployment device including an elongated housing, a sheath assembly connected to the housing, and at least two sliding members slidably connected to the housing.