Vascular Prosthesis with Releasable Loop Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for repairing traumatically injured body vessels, such as arteries or veins, during emergency surgery are time-consuming and require high skill, often leading to complications like blood loss, muscle necrosis, and potential limb loss, due to the difficulty in quickly and effectively inserting prostheses into damaged vessels with limited access and varying anatomical environments.
Innovation Solution
A system featuring a prosthesis that can be moved between compressed and expanded configurations, retained by releasable loops on strands, allowing for rapid expansion and anchoring within the vessel, minimizing tissue compression and facilitating quick blood flow restoration, while being easy to deploy by trauma physicians.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional surgical repair with sutures is performed to affix damaged tissue portions surrounding fittings, then the vessel can be repaired and blood flow restored, but the procedure occupies excessive physician time and compresses vessel tissue against the fitting, increasing necrosis risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the suture-tying step entirely by extracting the compression function from the attachment mechanism. The fitting is designed to affix to the vessel through mechanical engagement (barbs, friction, or expansion) without requiring tissue compression via sutures, thereby eliminating the time-consuming suture-tying process while maintaining reliable vessel repair
Solution Approach 2:
The fitting is pre-configured with attachment features (barbs, friction surfaces, or expansion mechanisms) that enable immediate mechanical engagement with the vessel tissue upon insertion. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for post-insertion suture compression, reducing physician time while ensuring reliable attachment from the moment of deployment
2Strength
If sutures are used to affix the vessel to the fitting, then the fitting can be securely attached, but tissue compression increases the risk of necrosis and potential connection failure
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of compressing the vessel tissue against the fitting using sutures, the patent inverts the approach by having the fitting mechanically engage the vessel tissue through barbs, friction surfaces, or expansion mechanisms. This inversion eliminates compressive forces that cause necrosis while maintaining strong attachment through direct mechanical interlocking
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs attachment mechanisms that replicate the function of suture compression without the harmful effects. The barbs, friction surfaces, or expansion features copy the securing function of sutures while avoiding tissue compression, thereby maintaining attachment strength without inducing necrosis
3Productivity
If temporary shunts are inserted to restore blood flow quickly, then blood loss is reduced and perfusion is maintained, but clots form requiring return to operating room for removal
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting is designed as a self-sustaining device that provides both immediate blood flow restoration and long-term vascular health. The mechanical attachment features (barbs, friction, expansion) ensure stable positioning that prevents clot formation, while the graft material promotes endothelialization. The device serves itself by maintaining patency without requiring secondary interventions for clot removal
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical and chemical parameters of the graft material and attachment mechanism to prevent clot formation. The surface properties, porosity, and mechanical stability are optimized to promote blood flow laminarity and prevent stasis, thereby eliminating the clotting issue that plagues temporary shunts while maintaining rapid blood flow restoration
4Object-affected harmful factors
If ligation of the damaged vessel is performed to stop blood loss, then hemostasis is achieved, but muscle necrosis, loss of muscle function, or limb loss may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the vessel repair function into two independent components: hemostasis (achieved by clamping proximal and distal to the injury) and blood flow restoration (achieved by the graft-filled fitting). This segmentation allows hemostasis without complete vessel occlusion, preventing the ischemia that leads to muscle necrosis and limb loss while still controlling blood loss
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 system enables rapid and effective repair of transected body vessels, reducing the time required for emergency procedures, minimizing blood flow disruption, and preventing complications like necrosis and prosthesis disengagement, thus improving patient outcomes in critical situations.
Implementation Method 1
the prosthesis is expandable from a compressed configuration to an expanded configuration
Implementation Method 2
Anchoring members can be disposed on the prosthesis for vessel fixation and to prevent migration of the prosthesis
Data Source
AI summary
A system to deliver a prosthesis for repair of a transected body vessel is described herein. The system can have a prosthesis and a plurality of distinct strands. A releasable loop can be formed at a distal end of each strand and positioned to retain one of a plurality of portions of the prosthesis in a compressed configuration. Each portion of the prosthesis can be independently movable between the compressed configuration and an expanded configuration. Retraction of the proximal end or severing the loop of any one of the strands can cause the corresponding loop to release to allow the corresponding portion of the prosthesis to expand from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration. The prosthesis can couple two vessel portions of the transected vessel together to allow for blood perfusion and maintain hemostasis.