Medical devices having MEMs functionality and methods of making same
View Patent ↗Implantable medical devices, including stents, grafts, covered stents, catheters, patches or the like having regions of the device which are functionalized employing microelectromechanical systems that are capable of acting as electromechanical sensors or biosensors in response to either an endogenous event, such as tissue growth, biochemical binding events, pressure changes, or respond to an externally applied stimulus, such as RF energy, to cause a change in the state of the device, such as to induce an oscillation signal which may be interrogated and interpreted external the body or may generate an induced electrical or electromagnetic potential in the device to activate micromotors to effect a geometric change in the device.
1. An endoluminal stent having a plurality of structural elements defining luminal and abluminal wall surfaces thereof, a central lumen, and a plurality of openings passing through the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces, comprising at least one microelectromechanical system operably associated with at least one of the plurality of structural elements, wherein the plurality of structural elements further comprise a plurality of arcuate members having a plurality of first projections, wherein the stent further comprises a plurality of micromotors operably associated with each of the plurality of arcuate members, each of the plurality of micromotors having at least one drive element having a plurality of second projections, the plurality of second projections interfacing with at least some of the plurality of first projections, whereby actuation of the plurality of micromotors causes the at least one drive element to engage at least some of the plurality of second projections with at least some of the plurality of first projections on at least one of the plurality of arcuate members and axially displace the at least one of a plurality of arcuate members.
2. The endoluminal stent according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of micromotors further comprises at least two interlacing comb members.
3. The endoluminal stent according to claim 2 , wherein the at least two interlacing comb members are electrically associated with to at least one inductive member.
4. The endoluminal stent according to claim 1 , wherein the stent further comprises a plurality of recesses in at least one of the plurality of structural members, each of the plurality of recesses further having at least one cantilever member projecting over an associated recess, wherein the at least one cantilever member is capable of oscillating upon application of an external energy thereto.
5. The endoluminal stent according to claim 4 , wherein each of at least one cantilever member further comprises a piezoelectric element.
6. The endoluminal stent according to claim 4 , wherein binding of at least one of cellular and sub-cellular components to the at least one cantilever member sufficiently attenuates is capability to oscillate upon application of an external energy thereto, such that interrogation of the oscillation returns a signal representative of the attenuated oscillation.
7. The endoluminal stent according to claim 6 , wherein the interrogation of the oscillation occurs at an ultrawideband frequency.
8. The endoluminal stent according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of openings passing through at some of the plurality of structural elements and a plurality of electrodes electrically coupled to one another and positioned proximate the plurality of opening to impart an electrical field gradient across the plurality of openings when a voltage is applied to the plurality of electrodes.
9. A system for actuating the endoluminal stent of claim 1 , comprising at least one actuator member operably associated with the endoluminal stent, at least one communication circuit in operably communicating with the at least one actuator member, at least one logic circuit electrically coupled to the communication circuit, and at least one power source.
10. The system for actuating the endoluminal stent according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one actuator member further comprises at least two interlacing comb members, each of the at least two comb members being operably coupled to a contact, and having a plurality of drive projections for interfacing with a structural member of the endoluminal stent.
11. The system for actuating the endoluminal stent according to claim 10 , wherein the contact is in operable communication with the communication circuit.
12. The system for actuating the endoluminal stent according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one power source further comprises an external power source which is inductively coupled to the at least one actuator member.
13. The endoluminal stent according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one system is selected from the group of cantilevers, nanothermometers, accelerometers, galvanotactic assemblies, impedance spectrometers, amperometric measurement, antibody/ion-channel sensors, electrocorrosive sensors, microvalves, micropumps, micromotors, microactuator and drive assemblies.