Self-Expandable Vascular Stent with Flexible Covering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current devices for treating vasculature and bodily ducts, such as aneurysms and embolic obstructions, lack effective methods for expansion and retrieval, leading to inefficiencies in deployment and removal.
Innovation Solution
A self-expandable member with a plurality of cell structures, movable from a delivery position to a placement position, featuring a proximal end, cylindrical main body, and distal end, with undulating elements that transition from a compressed to an expanded state for deployment within the vasculature, and a delivery catheter system for navigating and retrieving embolic obstructions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a self-expandable member is used to treat vasculature and bodily ducts, then deployment and retrieval efficiency is improved, but the risk of vessel wall injury increases
Solution Approach 1:
The self-expandable member incorporates a flexible covering that envelops the expandable structure, providing a smooth interface with the vessel wall. This flexible shell reduces mechanical irritation and injury to the vessel wall while allowing the underlying expandable structure to maintain its deployment efficiency and structural support function.
2Reliability
If the self-expandable member is expanded to treat vascular conditions, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but the complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The self-expandable member is divided into multiple cell structures arranged in a pattern along its length. These segmented cells allow the device to expand in a controlled manner while maintaining structural integrity. The segmentation enables the device to achieve effective expansion for treatment while keeping the overall design manageable and not excessively complex.
3Ease of operation
If the delivery catheter is made flexible to navigate vasculature, then navigability is improved, but the precision of placement decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery catheter incorporates a flexible section with adjustable stiffness characteristics. This dynamic flexibility allows the catheter to navigate tortuous vasculature effectively while maintaining sufficient rigidity in specific segments to enable precise placement of the self-expandable member at the target site. The flexibility can be modulated to balance navigability and placement precision as needed during the procedure.
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 efficient deployment and retrieval of the self-expandable member within the vasculature, effectively engaging and removing embolic obstructions while minimizing the risk of vessel wall injury and allowing for precise placement and expansion to treat various vascular conditions.
Implementation Method 1
an elongate self-expandable member movable from a first delivery position to a second placement position, in the first delivery position the expandable member being in an unexpanded position and having a nominal first diameter and in the second position the expandable member being in a radially expanded position and having a second nominal diameter greater than the first nominal diameter
Data Source
AI summary
A device including a self-expandable member having a proximal end portion, a main body portion and a distal end portion. Each of the self-expandable portions consists of a plurality of cell structures formed by intersecting strut members. In one implementation, at least one proximal cell structure in the proximal end portion has one or more struts that have a width and/or thickness greater than the width and/or thickness of the majority of strut members in the main body and distal end portions of the expandable member. Attached to at least one of the proximal-most cell structures in the proximal end portion is a proximally extending flexible wire having sufficient length and flexibility to navigate the tortuous vasculature of a patient. In another implementation, the device is delivered to the treatment site through the lumen of a delivery catheter.