Vascular Filter with Integrated Sensing for Thrombus Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vena cava filters lack effective monitoring capabilities, making it difficult to track their position, alignment, and thrombus build-up, which can lead to complications such as migration, perforation, and impaired blood flow, requiring complex imaging and potential surgical intervention.
Innovation Solution
An implantable vena cava filter with integrated sensing capabilities, including electronic circuits and miniaturized sensors, to monitor strain, position, and thrombus build-up, allowing for remote notification of potential issues and facilitating timely intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex imaging systems (MRI, CT Scan, X-ray) are used to monitor filter position and condition, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical/imaging monitoring systems with a simple electronic sensing system. Strain gauges and electronic circuits are integrated directly into the filter structure to detect position, orientation, and thrombus build-up, substituting the need for external MRI, CT, or X-ray imaging systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter monitors its own condition through integrated sensors that detect strain, position, and thrombus accumulation directly at the filter site, eliminating the need for external imaging systems to assess filter status.
2Loss of information
If no sensing capability is integrated into the filter, then device complexity is reduced, but loss of information about filter condition and thrombus build-up increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing elements (strain gauges, electronic circuits) are merged with the filter structure itself. The strain gauges are attached to or integrated into the filter legs and body, combining the filtering function with the sensing function in a single integrated device.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter serves multiple functions: it filters thrombus from blood flow while simultaneously monitoring its own position, orientation, and thrombus build-up through integrated strain gauges and electronic circuits, providing both therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities.
3Measurement precision
If strain gauges and electronic circuits are integrated into the filter, then measurement precision of filter condition is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Strain gauges are placed at specific critical locations on the filter structure where thrombus build-up would generate the most significant strain signals. This localized sensing approach provides precise thrombus detection without requiring complex electronics throughout the entire filter.
Solution Approach 2:
The strain gauges detect changes in physical parameters (strain, resistance) that occur when thrombus builds up on the filter. These parameter changes are converted into electrical signals that indicate the degree of thrombus accumulation, providing quantitative measurement of filter condition.
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
Enables early detection of thrombus build-up, filter migration, and perforation, allowing for proactive removal or intervention, reducing the need for complex imaging and minimizing complications.
Implementation Method 1
a strain gauge 136 wrapped around a vessel leg 138 in a helical manner... An electronic measurement circuit 158 is used to measure the strain gauge 136
Implementation Method 2
In another design, technologies similar to the ones implemented on a passive RFID system may be implemented on the vessel filter to direct energy to and receive information from micro-electronics connected to or attached on the legs or members of the filter
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable vessel filter having an integrated sensing capability for monitoring the condition of the vessel filter. In one variation, the vessel filter comprises a plurality of legs that would themselves perform as a sensor device for detecting distention, which would indicate the presence of a clot or thrombus therein. A passive electrical circuit may be implemented on the vessel filter to receive electromagnetic energy and transmit signals indicative of the condition of the implanted vessel filter. In another variation, a miniaturized sensor is adapted for measuring the strain and/or other physical parameters of the filter legs.