Wearable Defibrillator Gel Deployment for Low-Impedance Shocks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing resuscitation efforts for cardiac arrest are expensive and have a limited success rate, and there is a need for improved methods to maintain circulatory and respiratory systems during cardiac arrest to enhance victim survival chances.
Innovation Solution
An electrode system with a gel deployment receptacle and a fluid pump that releases conductive gel onto the body to facilitate defibrillation, utilizing a shell with apertures and a gel conduit to distribute the gel evenly, and a wearable defibrillator device for efficient delivery of defibrillation current.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conductive gel is deployed using a fluid pump system, then the impedance for defibrillation is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gel deployment system is segmented into multiple independent components: a gel reservoir, a fluid pump, a fluid conduit, and a gel deployment receptacle with apertures. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system functionality, resolving the complexity issue by organizing the system into manageable modular units.
Solution Approach 2:
A fluid pump is introduced as an intermediary mechanism between the gel reservoir and the deployment receptacle. This intermediary component enables controlled gel delivery through pressurization, ensuring reliable impedance reduction for defibrillation while maintaining a clear functional separation between storage and deployment functions.
2Stability of the object's composition
If gel is distributed through multiple apertures in the shell, then the gel distribution uniformity is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple apertures are distributed across the shell surface at different locations, allowing gel to be delivered to different regions simultaneously. This local distribution approach ensures uniform gel coverage across the electrode contact area, improving gel distribution uniformity while the modular shell design helps manage manufacturing precision requirements.
3Productivity
If a fluid pump is used to pressurize the gel chamber, then the gel deployment speed is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A fluid pump is employed to pressurize the gel chamber, utilizing hydraulic principles to force gel through the fluid conduit and out of the deployment receptacle apertures. This pneumatic-hydraulic mechanism enables rapid gel deployment, improving productivity while the integrated design of the fluid system helps manage overall device complexity.
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 system effectively reduces impedance for defibrillation by deploying conductive gel, enhancing the success rate of resuscitation efforts and improving survival chances during cardiac arrest.
Implementation Method 1
The fluid pump receives a fluid at a first pressure and outputs the fluid at a second pressure higher than the first pressure
Implementation Method 2
The conductive gel may be capable of conducting a defibrillation current
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a wearable cardiac therapeutic system including a plurality of therapy electrodes disposed in a garment and a fluid pressure source including a barrel configured to house conductive gel, and an actuation mechanism. A therapy controller is configured to detect an arrhythmic event in a patient based on sensed electrical activity of the patient's heart, initiate an activation signal indicating that the conductive gel is to be released on to the body of the patient, and cause the delivery of one or more electrical therapeutic shocks to the heart of the patient. Gel activator circuitry is configured to receive the activation signal from the therapy controller, and cause the fluid pressure source to expel the conductive gel onto the body of the patient proximate the one or more of the therapy electrodes and prior to the delivery of the one or more electrical shocks to the patient.