Viscoelastic Spring Compliance Balloon for Arterial Pressure Regulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Reduced arterial compliance in patients leads to elevated blood pressure, increased cardiovascular risk, and reduced perfusion, causing health complications such as organ failure due to insufficient blood supply, which existing technologies have not adequately addressed.
Innovation Solution
A compliance restoration device with a compliance balloon lumen and a spring assembly that expands to support the balloon, anchored in a blood vessel to restore vascular compliance, utilizing a viscoelastic spring assembly and tuning screw for adjustable compliance, allowing for minimally invasive implantation and deployment via a catheter system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a compliance restoration device is implanted to improve arterial compliance, then systolic pressure is reduced and diastolic pressure is increased, but the device structure becomes complex requiring spring assemblies, balloon lumens, and anchor structures
Solution Approach 1:
The chamber support structure is nested within the compliance balloon lumen, which itself is contained within the delivery catheter during implantation. The spring assembly is positioned within the chamber support structure, creating a compact nested configuration that simplifies delivery while maintaining functional complexity for compliance restoration
Solution Approach 2:
The device is segmented into distinct functional components: the compliance balloon lumen for pressure regulation, the chamber support structure for structural integrity, the spring assembly for elastic compliance, and anchor structures for secure positioning. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while working together to restore arterial compliance
2Volume of stationary object
If the chamber support structure is designed to expand outward through shortening to support balloon volume, then the compliance function is improved, but the mechanism requires complex spring assembly and viscoelastic components
Solution Approach 1:
The spring assembly is configured to automatically expand the chamber support structure when deployed, using the stored elastic energy in the spring to push the first end of the chamber support structure toward the second end, thereby supporting the expanded balloon volume without requiring external actuation mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The viscoelastic spring assembly changes its mechanical parameters (stiffness, damping) based on the deformation rate and magnitude, providing different levels of compliance support during rapid expansion versus steady-state operation, thereby simplifying the overall mechanism while achieving complex functional behavior
3Ease of operation
If the device is designed for minimally invasive implantation via catheter, then ease of operation is improved, but the device must be collapsible and expandable requiring complex deployment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The device transitions from a collapsed low-profile state during delivery to an expanded functional state at the implantation site. The chamber support structure dynamically changes its configuration from compressed to expanded, allowing the device to navigate through catheters and then provide adequate compliance support when deployed
Solution Approach 2:
The spring assembly is pre-compressed during device assembly and delivery, storing elastic potential energy that is released upon deployment to automatically expand the chamber support structure and compliance balloon, eliminating the need for complex external expansion mechanisms during implantation
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 reduces systolic pressure, increases diastolic pressure, and improves coronary perfusion, reducing the strain on the heart and enhancing blood supply to organs, thereby impeding the progression of chronic heart failure and reversing its symptoms.
Implementation Method 1
a spring assembly configured to cause the chamber support structure to expand by applying a force on the first end of the chamber support structure
Implementation Method 2
The one-way viscoelastic spring assembly may comprise a piston component having first and second nozzles in a head portion of the piston component
Implementation Method 3
The first nozzle can a check valve configured to allow fluid therethrough when a spring of the one-way viscoelastic spring assembly compresses and at least partially inhibit fluid flow therethrough when the spring expands
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~3B
Figure 4
AI summary
A compliance restoration device includes a compliance balloon lumen, a chamber support structure disposed in the compliance balloon lumen and configured to expand to support an expanded volume of the compliance balloon lumen, and a spring assembly configured to cause the chamber support structure to expand by applying a force on a first end of the chamber support structure.