Steerable catheter

• US 10,058,235 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2011
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sanovas Intellectual Property, LLC
• Original Assignee: Sanovas Intellectual Property, LLC
• Inventors: Gunday, Erhan H., Gerrans, Lawrence J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Leubecker, John P
• Assistant Examiner(s): TORRES DIAZ, ARNALDO
• Application Number:
  US13/037,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20120226103A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,737 Days
• Field of Search: 600152
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00042 for mechanical operation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00154 using guiding arrangements for insertion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0057 Constructional details of force transmission elements, e.g. control wires
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/015 Control of fluid supply or evacuation
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/0024 Expandable catheters or sheaths
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/0059 having means for preventing the catheter, sheath or lumens from collapsing due to outer forces, e.g. compressing forces, or caused by twisting or kinking
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/001 Forming the tip of a catheter, e.g. bevelling process, join or taper
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0012 with embedded structures, e.g. coils, braids, meshes, strands or radiopaque coils
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0013 Weakening parts of a catheter tubing, e.g. by making cuts in the tube or reducing thickness of a layer at one point to adjust the flexibility
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0023 by the form of the lumen, e.g. cross-section, variable diameter
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0026 Multi-lumen catheters with stationary elements catheter assemblies comprising a catheter in combination with a guide tube, sheath or sleeve A61M2025/0681; catheters comprising telescoping coaxial elements A61M2025/0175
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/005 with embedded materials for reinforcement, e.g. wires, coils, braids
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0052 Localized reinforcement, e.g. where only a specific part of the catheter is reinforced, for rapid exchange guidewire port
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0053 having a variable stiffness along the longitudinal axis, e.g. by varying the pitch of the coil or braid
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0054 with regions for increasing flexibility
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0155 with hydraulic or pneumatic means, e.g. balloons or inflatable compartments

Abstract

The present invention relates to a steerable catheter device and method of using the same comprising a catheter body having a distal section. The distal section of the catheter body has an inner lumen, and one or more steering lumen radially offset from the inner lumen. The steering lumen comprise a first end having a first diameter and a second end having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter. A fluid source is in fluid communication with the steering lumen for supplying fluid thereto to radially distend the first end of the steering lumen such that the catheter body bends away from the steering lumen. In some cases, a vacuum is supplied to an opposite lumen to further assist bending of the catheter body. The inner lumen may include a porous material that is utilized to clean an instrument, such as an imaging device, movably disposed in the inner lumen.

Claims

1. A steerable catheter device comprising:

a catheter body having a distal section, the distal section having

an inner lumen; and

a plurality of steering lumens radially offset from said inner lumen, each steering lumen having a first end having a first diameter and a second end having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter; and

a fluid source in fluid communication with each of said plurality of steering lumens for supplying at least one of a fluid and a vacuum thereto to change the first diameter thereof.

2. The catheter of claim 1, wherein:

the distal end of each of said plurality of steering lumens has an end wall; and

said end wall moves axially in response to the supply of at least one of a fluid and a vacuum thereto.

3. The catheter of claim 2, wherein each of said plurality of steering lumens has a wall thickness that is smaller at the distal end than at the proximal end.

4. The catheter of claim 1, wherein the first end is the distal end of the steering lumen and the second end is the proximal end of the steering lumen.

5. The catheter of claim 1, wherein the plurality of steering lumens comprises first, second, third, and fourth steering lumens.

6. The catheter of claim 1, wherein said fluid source supplies fluid to a first one of said steering lumens while supplying a vacuum to a second one of said steering lumens to bend said catheter body away from the first steering lumen.

7. The catheter of claim 1, wherein the fluid source is a pump.

8. The catheter of claim 1, wherein the fluid is a gas.

9. The catheter of claim 1, further comprising an imaging system movably disposed in said inner lumen.

10. The catheter of claim 1, wherein the distal end of said inner lumen includes porous material.

11. The catheter of claim 10, wherein the porous material is impregnated with a cleaning solution.

12. The catheter of claim 11, further comprising an imaging system movably disposed in said inner lumen and through said porous material.

13. The catheter of claim 1, wherein the distal section of said catheter body comprises silicone.

14. The catheter of claim 1, further comprising a coil spring disposed in said inner lumen.

15. The catheter of claim 14, wherein said coil spring has first and second sections, and a middle section between the first and second sections, wherein the coils of the middle section are expanded such that the middle section is more flexible than the first and second sections.

16. The catheter of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of steering lumens includes at least one piezoelectrical transducer therein.

17. The catheter of claim 1, wherein said catheter body has an outer diameter that is less than about 3 mm.

18. The catheter of claim 17, wherein said outer diameter is less than about 2 mm.

19. The catheter of claim 1, wherein said inner lumen has a diameter of at least about 1.2 mm.

43. A method of cleaning an imaging device, the method comprising:

positioning an imaging device within the inner lumen of the catheter of claim 1, the inner lumen having a distal end including porous material; and

moving the imaging device through the porous material.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising the step of impregnating the porous material with a cleaning solution.

20. A steerable catheter device comprising:

a catheter body having a distal section, the distal section having

an inner lumen; and

a steering lumen radially offset from said inner lumen, said steering lumen having a first end having a first diameter and a second end having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter; and

a fluid source in fluid communication with said steering lumen for supplying fluid thereto to radially distend the first end of said steering lumen such that said catheter body bends away from said steering lumen.

21. The catheter of claim 20, wherein:

the distal end of said steering lumen has an end wall; and

said end wall moves axially in response to the supply of fluid to said steering lumen.

22. The catheter of claim 20, wherein the first end is the distal end of the steering lumen and the second end is the proximal end of the steering lumen.

23. The catheter of claim 20, wherein said steering lumen has a wall thickness that is smaller at the distal end than at the proximal end of said steering lumen.

24. The catheter of claim 20, wherein the fluid source further comprises a vacuum source.

25. The catheter of claim 20, wherein the fluid source is a pump.

26. The catheter of claim 20, wherein the fluid is a gas.

27. The catheter of claim 20, further comprising an imaging system movably disposed in said inner lumen.

28. The catheter of claim 20, wherein said inner lumen has a distal end that includes porous material.

29. The catheter of claim 28, wherein the porous material is impregnated with a cleaning solution.

30. The catheter of claim 29, further comprising an imaging system movably disposed in said inner lumen and through said porous material.

31. The catheter of claim 20, wherein the distal section of said catheter body comprises silicone.

32. The catheter of claim 20, further comprising a coil spring disposed in said inner lumen.

33. The catheter of claim 32, wherein said coil spring has first and second sections, and a middle section between the first and second sections, wherein the coils of the middle section are expanded such that the middle section is more flexible than the first and second sections.

34. The catheter of claim 20, wherein said catheter includes an imaging marker.

35. The catheter of claim 20, wherein said steering lumen includes at least one piezoelectrical transducer therein.

36. A method of orienting a catheter device within a bodily cavity, the method comprising:

positioning a catheter within a bodily cavity, the catheter comprising a catheter body having an inner lumen and a steering lumen radially offset from the inner lumen, the steering lumen having a first end having a first diameter and a second end having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter; and

bending the catheter body away from the steering lumen by supplying a fluid to radially distend the steering lumen.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising the step of bending the catheter body towards the steering lumen by providing a vacuum to the steering lumen.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the steering lumen is a first steering lumen, the catheter body has a second steering lumen radially offset from the inner lumen, and the step of bending the catheter body away from the first steering lumen further comprises supplying a vacuum to the second steering lumen.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the steering lumen is a first steering lumen, and the catheter body further includes second, third, and fourth steering lumens.

40. The method of claim 36, further comprising the step of pressing a radially distended portion of a distal end of the catheter body against a bodily cavity wall to provide leverage action to the distal end of the catheter body.

41. The catheter of claim 36, wherein the first end is the distal end of the steering lumen and the second end is the proximal end of the steering lumen.

42. The catheter of claim 36, wherein the steering lumen includes at least one piezoelectric transducer therein, wherein the step of bending the catheter body away from the steering lumen further comprises applying an electrical field across the at least one piezoelectric transducer.