A handheld mechanism for the facilitated implant deployment for the minimally-invasive closure of the left atrial appendage

This paper describes the concept and realization of a handheld device for the implant deployment during the minimally-invasive closure of the left atrial appendage (LAA). This implant serves as stroke prevention for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation. The implant is delivered by a catheter and unfolds automatically when it leaves the catheter. According to the user manual the deployment of the implant takes place in three steps with the user having to move two components in predetermined distances and directions to ensure the safe deployment. The mechanism described in this paper solves this task by converting a continuous rotational input at the user interface into an intermittent translational movement of the two components through the use of a star wheel drive. The paper describes the construction and calculation of the device and in detail the gear and presents an experiment that showed the potential advantages of the device.