Ventricular Cuff with Rigid Insert for Myocardium Flattening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current heart assist devices face challenges in securely attaching to the heart and maintaining effective blood flow, particularly in flattening the myocardium and preventing tissue adhesion to facilitate easy removal.
Innovation Solution
A ventricular cuff with multiple layers of material, such as felt or mesh, and a wire insert covered in silicone, along with suture anchors on the housing of the heart pump, is designed to flatten the myocardium and securely attach the pump to the heart, using a sewing ring with a rigid insert to promote blood flow and reduce tissue adhesion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a rigid cuff structure is used to flatten the myocardium, then blood flow is improved, but tissue adhesion increases making removal difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cuff is divided into multiple functional layers: a rigid support structure (wire insert or rigid ring) for flattening the myocardium, a sewing ring for attachment, and a fabric cover for reducing tissue adhesion. Each layer performs a specific function to resolve the contradiction between maintaining blood flow and preventing adhesion.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the cuff have different properties: the inner structure is rigid to flatten myocardium and maintain blood flow, while the outer fabric cover is compliant and non-adhesive to prevent tissue adhesion. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction.
2Productivity
If multiple layers and rigid inserts are added to the cuff, then myocardium flattening and blood flow are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional elements are merged into a single integrated cuff assembly: the rigid wire insert or rigid ring is combined with the fabric layers and sewing ring to form a unified structure that performs both myocardium flattening and secure attachment functions simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The cuff uses composite construction combining rigid materials (wire, rigid ring) with flexible fabric materials to achieve both structural support for blood flow and compliance for secure attachment, resolving the complexity issue through material compositeity.
3Reliability
If suture anchors are added to the housing, then pump security to the heart is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Suture anchors are pre-installed in the housing during manufacturing, allowing for simplified assembly during implantation. The anchors are positioned and secured in advance, making the overall device more reliable while maintaining ease of manufacture through pre-preparation.
Data Source
AI summary
In one general aspect, a cuff for attachment to a heart includes an attachment component configured to engage a blood pump to attach the cuff to the blood pump and a sewing ring for attachment to the heart. The sewing ring is coupled to the attachment component, and the attachment component and the sewing ring each define a central opening configured to admit an inflow cannula of a blood pump. The sewing ring comprises a member that provides rigidity to flatten a portion of a myocardium of the heart when the cuff is attached to the heart.