Implantable Ventricular Assist Device Aortic Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ventricular assist devices (VADs) face challenges in minimally invasive delivery and effective integration within the patient's vasculature to enhance cardiac function, particularly in maintaining fluid flow and blood circulation without causing tissue damage or increasing the risk of complications like aortic dissection.
Innovation Solution
An implantable medical device with a main body deployable within the aorta, featuring a lumen for fluid flow and a branch member with a pump to enhance blood flow, which includes a sealing element and stent-graft components for secure implantation and flexibility, allowing independent motion of cardiac structures and minimizing tissue overgrowth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a pump is placed within the patient's vasculature to assist heart function, then cardiac output is improved, but the risk of tissue damage and aortic dissection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate functional components: a main body deployed in the aorta and a branch member that extends into the left ventricle. This segmentation allows the pump to be positioned at the junction point, reducing direct contact with aortic walls and minimizing the risk of aortic dissection while maintaining effective blood flow assistance
Solution Approach 2:
The branch member acts as an intermediary structure connecting the left ventricle to the aorta. It provides a protected pathway for the pump, isolating the pumping mechanism from direct interaction with aortic tissue and reducing the risk of tissue damage while still enabling effective blood flow augmentation
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a minimally invasive delivery method is used, then surgical trauma is reduced, but device integration and sealing within the vasculature becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The branch member incorporates flexible materials and dynamic sealing mechanisms that can adapt to the beating heart and pulsating aorta. The sealing element can dynamically adjust to maintain fluid-tight seals despite cardiac motion, enabling minimally invasive delivery while ensuring proper integration
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes materials and structures that change their physical parameters in response to physiological conditions. The sealing elements can change their compliance or friction characteristics based on pressure and flow conditions, facilitating both minimally invasive delivery and secure integration within the beating heart environment
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the branch member is configured to allow independent motion of cardiac structures, then tissue damage is minimized, but fluid-tight sealing becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing elements incorporate flexible membranes and thin-walled structures that can accommodate independent motion of cardiac structures. These flexible components maintain fluid-tight seals while allowing the atrium and aorta to move independently, preventing tissue damage from rigid constraints
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 device effectively increases blood flow into the aorta for cardiac assistance while minimizing the risk of complications such as aortic dissection and tissue damage, facilitating minimally invasive delivery and reducing the need for open-heart surgery.
Implementation Method 1
a pump configured to force blood flow through the branch member and into the lumen of the main body
Implementation Method 2
the branch member includes a sealing element near a first end configured to engage a tissue wall of the atrium or the left ventricle
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward implantable medical devices, systems, and methods for cardiac assistance.