Millionaire Project
September 15, 2014- November 7, 2014
Group Members- Ananya Somasekar, Amritha Somasekar, Natalie Mansergh, Daria Huang
Despite current research attempting to find a solution to atherosclerosis, clogging of the arteries, and help the prevention of heart aneurysms, the current heart stents are not as efficient as possible. According to Medtronic's website, current heart stents sometimes have issues with being compatible with the patient and can cause harmful infections. Most heart stents use stainless steel and medical fabric. Our new design will make the process of inserting the heart stent more sympathetic to the human body.
Background Information: There are two main types of aortic aneurysms that take place in the arteries, dissections and ruptures. An aneurysm is a bulge in the artery that can cause fatal issues relating to a person's health. Dissections occur the force of the blood pressure splits the layers of the artery walls. This causes blood to leak between the broken artery walls. Ruptures cause internal bleeding because the entire aneurysm to burst. Aneurysms cause damage to a person's blood vessels which result in troubled breathing, sharp pains, and fatal outcomes. A heart stent can help alleviate these problems because it is capable of opening the passageway of the artery to allow the blood to easily travel through the body.
Project Idea: We can improve the current heart stent design by using materials that are more compatible with the human body. For the scaffolding, we will make the mesh mold out of an alloy composed mostly of titanium and five percent nickel then surround the structure with part of a human placenta. The titanium has already been proven to last longer periods of time regardless of the stress placed on the stent. Having it combined with nickel will help reduce the cost and put the budget towards more research and testing instead. A human placenta replace the fabric material and will be utilized by deploying the heart stent similar to a balloon expanding in angioplasty. This is the process when the stent will be introduced to the body through a catheter and the placenta will expand until the metal is secure in the walls of the closed artery. Then the placenta will retract and be removed from the body leaving the heart stent in place. These different materials will make the heart stent more reliable and fitting to the human body.
Facilities: In order to make this new development possible, we would need several resources, including labs, engineers, and doctors. We would require a manufacturing lab to produce and manipulate the structure of the heart stent. To test our designs, we would also need a fatigue lab that tests the durability of the materials and the construction of stent at an accelerated rate to ensure it is capable of lasting for an entire lifetime. In terms of labs, we would also need a developing lab for a place to redesign and construct the heart stents. Engineers would work here to improve the current models and reconstruct more productive stent by changing the shapes of the metal, the space between links, and the strength of the connections. Doctors would be needed to insert the heart stent into the patient and monitor the subjects throughout the following years. We can use the information found through placement of the new heart stent in a person to rebuild models or adjust techniques. We base our facilities off the complex of Medtronic, another heart stent company initiated in the United States.
Fatigue Lab: In order for our product to be presentable to the public, the Pre-market Approval(PMA) and the Food Drug Administration(FDA) needs to pass the product. This process may seem lengthy and monotonous, but it essential to protecting the health of the general public and ensuring materials and products will not impinge on a person's health. A hydrodynamic pulsation machine will test the compression, tensile strength, flexibility, and durability of a heart for a stimulated ten years by emulating the actions of an artery. This process takes three to six months because the vitro-testing increases the internal flowing pressure and beats per minute. There are approximately fifty cycles per minute, depending on the pressure to test maximum and minimum parameters. This procedure can test the heart stent in both diastolic and systolic conditions. Diastolic heart failure is when the heart is incapable of relaxing and filling the heart with blood; systolic heart problems occur when the left ventricle can not contract enough and has issues pumping blood through the arteries.
Cost for Materials:
Titanium Alloy: $8.65 per pound; ten pounds Human Placenta: Donations from local hospitals and mothers Fatigue Machine: 3,000-7,000 dollars per machine; two machines(that test different specifications) Fatigue and Development Lab: $3,481 per month Manufacturing Lab: $1,658 per month -Both labs located in Santa Rosa, CA(ten year lease) |
Salaries for Employees:
Cardiologist: $300,000 per year -Hire two: $600,000 Residency Students: $42, 700 per year -Hire three: $128,100 Bioengineers: $70,000 per year -Hire two: $140,000 |
Total Cost(for the first year): $939,854.50 Building Cost: $61,668 Employee Cost: $868,100 Materials Cost: $10, 086.50
Market and Units: We will start by testing 100 beta testers with unique heart failure conditions. If successful, our company can branch out to the 500,000 people that have heart stent emplacements per year. Elderly people typically have the most problems regarding the regulations of the beating of their heart so the majority of our patients will probably be older, but young enough to benefit from years of a working heart stent. This just in the United States, but there are people suffering all over the world. For example, Endocor is a heart development company centered in Germany and this company produces heart stents internationally.
Timeline: The first year will primarily be applying for grants, patronizing investment banks, setting up the lab, gathering professional employees, and creating a basis for our company. After the fundamentals are laid out, the following three years will consist of developing a prototype and testing the structure with fatigue machines. Depending on the results, we will search for patients with diverse situations who are willing to undergo angioplasty. Before the surgery, doctors will closely monitor the volunteers before deciding whether they are fit for our new model and experiment. Over the next three years, patients will be closely observed by professional doctors. Changes can be made to the structure or insertion of the heart stent in order to accommodate possible issues that may arise. After the company has been stable for two years, we will try to branch out and hire more doctors, increase the space of development, and test heart stents on more patients.
Information Sources:
Heart Aneurysms:
http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_aortic_aneurysm.htm
http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/ruptured-aortic-aneurysm
Market for Heart Stents:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/heart-stents-continue-to-be-overused/?_php=true&_&_r=0
Replacement Needs for Heart Stents:
http://www.cardiachealth.org/ca-blog/how-long-does-heart-stent-last-do-they-need-be-replaced
Fatigue Machine:
file:///home/chronos/u-e460fb2338f5748a746faffa232e1813c6db6e08/Downloads/StentTesting.PDF
Cost for Fatigue Machine:
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=fatigue+testing+machine+price
Heart Failure(diastolic, systolic heart failure):
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/basics/causes/con-20029801
Medtronic:
http://www.medtronic.com/patients/coronary-artery-disease/therapy/balloon-angioplasty-and-stenting/benefits-risks/
Cost for Cardiologist:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-is-the-average-fellowship-salary.32713/
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/physician-interventional-cardiologist-salary-SRCH_KO0,37.htm
Material Used in Current Heart Stents:
http://blog.mediligence.com/2009/06/11/materials-used-in-stent-construction/
Placenta Abilities:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120519/Placental-stem-cells-with-key-therapeutic-properties-can-be-harvested-from-chorion.aspx
Office Buildings:
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/14373175/1421-Guerneville-Road-Santa-Rosa-CA/
Titanium:
http://www.metalprices.com/p/TitaniumFreeChart
http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_aortic_aneurysm.htm
http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/ruptured-aortic-aneurysm
Market for Heart Stents:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/heart-stents-continue-to-be-overused/?_php=true&_&_r=0
Replacement Needs for Heart Stents:
http://www.cardiachealth.org/ca-blog/how-long-does-heart-stent-last-do-they-need-be-replaced
Fatigue Machine:
file:///home/chronos/u-e460fb2338f5748a746faffa232e1813c6db6e08/Downloads/StentTesting.PDF
Cost for Fatigue Machine:
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=fatigue+testing+machine+price
Heart Failure(diastolic, systolic heart failure):
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/basics/causes/con-20029801
Medtronic:
http://www.medtronic.com/patients/coronary-artery-disease/therapy/balloon-angioplasty-and-stenting/benefits-risks/
Cost for Cardiologist:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-is-the-average-fellowship-salary.32713/
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/physician-interventional-cardiologist-salary-SRCH_KO0,37.htm
Material Used in Current Heart Stents:
http://blog.mediligence.com/2009/06/11/materials-used-in-stent-construction/
Placenta Abilities:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120519/Placental-stem-cells-with-key-therapeutic-properties-can-be-harvested-from-chorion.aspx
Office Buildings:
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/14373175/1421-Guerneville-Road-Santa-Rosa-CA/
Titanium:
http://www.metalprices.com/p/TitaniumFreeChart
*Other Heart Stent Companies Include(but are not limited to):
MEDTRONIC
ABBOT VASCULAR
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
ENDOCOR(Centered in Germany)
MEDTRONIC
ABBOT VASCULAR
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
ENDOCOR(Centered in Germany)