Ventricular Partitioning Devices for Heart Failure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for congestive heart failure, such as drug therapy, surgical procedures, and mechanical assist devices, are either ineffective, invasive, or not suitable for all patients, as they fail to permanently address the heart's inefficiency in pumping blood due to enlarged ventricles and damaged tissue.
Innovation Solution
Deployment of multiple ventricular partitioning devices within the heart chamber to partition it into a productive and non-productive portion, reducing overall chamber volume and stress, thereby improving ejection fraction and blood flow, using reinforced membranes with radially expandable frames and tissue-penetrating ribs for secure anchoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If surgical procedures are used to dissect and remove weakened portions of the ventricular wall, then heart volume is reduced, but the procedure is highly invasive, risky and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the ventricular chamber into multiple compartments using partitioning devices, separating productive myocardium from non-productive tissue. This segmentation allows the heart to maintain reduced effective volume while avoiding invasive surgical removal of tissue, as the partitioning is achieved through deployable devices rather than open surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The partitioning devices act as intermediaries between the non-productive ventricular tissue and the productive myocardium. These devices create a physical barrier that prevents the non-productive tissue from interfering with pumping function, thereby reducing the harmful effects of enlarged volume without requiring direct surgical intervention on the myocardium itself.
2Productivity
If mechanical assist devices are implanted to increase blood flow, then pumping function is improved, but the devices are complex and invasive
Solution Approach 1:
The partitioning devices enable the heart's own productive myocardium to perform the pumping function more effectively by isolating it from non-productive tissue. This self-service approach allows the heart to improve its own blood flow capability without requiring external mechanical assist devices, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining productivity improvement.
3Ease of operation
If a single partitioning device is used, then installation is simple, but it may be insufficient to cover damaged heart tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple partitioning devices deployed in sequence or combination, each covering specific portions of the non-productive tissue. This segmented approach maintains the simplicity of individual device installation while achieving comprehensive coverage through multiple units, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and coverage adequacy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs multiple partitioning devices that may overlap or extend beyond the minimum required coverage area. This partial or excessive action ensures that all non-productive tissue is adequately covered and contained, providing reliable coverage while maintaining the simplicity of deploying additional identical devices rather than designing a single complex custom device.
Data Source
AI summary
This invention is directed to a system and method for partitioning a patient's heart chamber into a productive portion and a non-productive portion which are particularly suitable for treating patients with congestive heart failure. The partitioning system has a plurality of partitioning devices with reinforced, expandable membranes which separate the productive and non-productive portions of the heart chamber. When deployed within the patient's heart chamber, the second partitioning device is off-set from the deployed first partitioning device to cover a region of the wall defining the patient's heart chamber which is not covered by the first partitioning device. The multiple partitioning devices may be independent from each other or may be interconnected, e.g. a tether or strand.