Patient-Specific Vascular Patch Geometry Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vascular patches for neonatal and pediatric patients are not tailored to individual anatomies, leading to graft deformations, excessive stitching, and increased surgical complexity due to the inability of synthetic materials to adapt with growing vascular structures, which can result in vascular stenosis, wrinkling, and prolonged surgery times.
Innovation Solution
A computer-aided pre-operative surgical planning system generates patient-specific 3D vascular graft prototypes using MRI or CT scans, integrating healthy and defective anatomy models to optimize patch geometry and stitching, reducing the need for excessive material and minimizing stress on grafts, with 3D printing techniques creating accurate, biocompatible patch models for surgeons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If standard rectangular vascular patches are used for pediatric patients, then the patches can be readily available and easy to manufacture, but the patches cause graft deformations, wrinkling, and vascular stenosis due to poor anatomical fit
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs pre-operative planning and generates patient-specific 3D patch models before surgery. By calculating the optimal patch geometry in advance based on patient-specific vascular anatomy from CT/MRI scans, the system eliminates the need for intraoperative patch customization while ensuring precise anatomical fit. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by preparing the precisely-fitted patch beforehand, combining the ease of using pre-prepared patches with the precision of custom anatomy-matched designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system generates patches with non-uniform, patient-specific geometries that match the local anatomical requirements of each patient's vascular structure. Instead of using uniform rectangular patches, the system creates patches with varying dimensions, curvatures, and shapes tailored to specific anatomical locations, ensuring optimal fit and function at each local site while maintaining manufacturability through computational design.
2Manufacturing precision
If surgeons manually customize patch geometry during surgery, then the patches can be tailored to patient anatomy, but the surgery duration increases leading to brain and systemic tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs all patch geometry calculations, optimizations, and 3D model generations before the surgical procedure. By completing the complex customization work in advance using patient-specific imaging data, the system eliminates time-consuming intraoperative measurements and adjustments, thereby reducing surgery duration while maintaining precise anatomical tailoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates accurate 3D digital copies and physical prototypes of patient-specific vascular structures before surgery. These pre-generated models serve as templates that guide the surgical procedure, allowing surgeons to implant pre-fabricated custom patches without needing to perform complex measurements or calculations during the operation, thus reducing surgery time while maintaining customization precision.
3Area of stationary object
If patches are oversized to ensure coverage, then complete vascular coverage is achieved, but excessive stitching is required causing unnecessary stress on the graft
Solution Approach 1:
The system generates patches with non-uniform thickness distributions and varying material properties across different regions. By concentrating material and structural reinforcement only where anatomically necessary rather than uniformly throughout, the system achieves complete vascular coverage with minimized overall size, thereby reducing the number of stitches required and the stress imposed on the graft while maintaining adequate coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs optimization calculations before surgery to determine the minimal patch size and configuration that provides complete vascular coverage. By pre-calculating the optimal patch dimensions and stitching patterns based on patient-specific anatomy, the system ensures adequate coverage with the smallest necessary patch area, minimizing excessive stitching and graft stress.
4Manufacturing precision
If patches are cut to exact patient-specific dimensions, then anatomical fit is optimized, but material waste increases due to customization requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system develops a library of parametric patch designs that can be adapted to various patient anatomies through parameter adjustment rather than complete customization. By creating multi-functional template designs that can be modified to fit different vascular configurations, the system reduces material waste while maintaining precise anatomical fit, as these standardized templates can be efficiently manufactured and adapted without requiring entirely custom patches for each patient.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a system for manufacturing of vascular patches in the form pre-operative surgical planning prototypes providing optimized patient specific 3-D patch geometries. The present disclosure relates more particularly to a patch generation device for manufacturing of vascular patches in the form pre-operative surgical planning prototypes providing optimized patient-specific patch geometries, said patch generation device comprising a processing unit effectuating processing of the optimized patient-specific patch geometries.