Deflectable guide catheters and related methods
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- (a) advancing a guide catheter into a head of a patient along a first path through a nostril of the patient in a first direction, wherein the guide catheter comprises a longitudinally extending distal deflection portion, wherein the distal deflection portion of the guide catheter comprises a lumen extending therethrough to a distal opening and a resilient member, wherein the resilient member biases the lumen of the distal deflection portion to a first configuration;
(b) providing a proximal assembly coupled with the guide catheter and a pull member connected to a distal end of the resilient member, wherein the proximal assembly is located outside the patient'"'"'s body when the distal deflection portion of the guide catheter is in the head of the patient, wherein the proximal assembly comprises a control member operatively connected to the pull member, wherein the control member is configured to proximally pull the pull member and the resilient member connected thereto in order to deflect the lumen of the distal deflection portion from the first configuration to a second configuration;
(c) positioning the distal deflection portion of the guide catheter at or near a desired location of a first anatomical structure within the head of the patient, wherein the head of the patient has an anatomy with the first anatomical structure defining a passageway, wherein the first anatomical structure prevents access to a second anatomical structure within the head via the first path;
(d) retracting the control member proximally to proximally pull the pull member in conjunction with the resilient member to thereby deflect the lumen of the distal deflection portion from the first configuration to the second configuration;
(e) moving the distal opening of the guide catheter along a second path in a second direction transverse to the first direction such that the distal deflection portion advances around the first anatomical structure of the anatomy such that the distal deflection portion is in contact with the first anatomical structure of the anatomy about the passageway and the distal opening aligns with the passageway of the anatomy; and
(f) advancing a guidewire through the deflected lumen of the guide catheter to contact or pass through the desired location and the second anatomical structure.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Deflectable guide catheters and methods, including methods for using defectable guide catheters to perform transnasal procedures within the ear, nose, throat, paranasal sinuses or cranium. Some deflectable guide catheters of the present invention comprise a substantially rigid tube, a helical spring attached to and extending from the distal end of the substantially rigid tube, a tubular plastic inner jacket, an outer plastic jacket substantially covering at least the helical spring member. The spring member is deflectable to cause the distal portion of the guide catheter to deflect to a curved configuration. In embodiments for transnasal use the deflectable guide catheter may have a length of less than 25 cm.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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(a) advancing a guide catheter into a head of a patient along a first path through a nostril of the patient in a first direction, wherein the guide catheter comprises a longitudinally extending distal deflection portion, wherein the distal deflection portion of the guide catheter comprises a lumen extending therethrough to a distal opening and a resilient member, wherein the resilient member biases the lumen of the distal deflection portion to a first configuration; (b) providing a proximal assembly coupled with the guide catheter and a pull member connected to a distal end of the resilient member, wherein the proximal assembly is located outside the patient'"'"'s body when the distal deflection portion of the guide catheter is in the head of the patient, wherein the proximal assembly comprises a control member operatively connected to the pull member, wherein the control member is configured to proximally pull the pull member and the resilient member connected thereto in order to deflect the lumen of the distal deflection portion from the first configuration to a second configuration; (c) positioning the distal deflection portion of the guide catheter at or near a desired location of a first anatomical structure within the head of the patient, wherein the head of the patient has an anatomy with the first anatomical structure defining a passageway, wherein the first anatomical structure prevents access to a second anatomical structure within the head via the first path; (d) retracting the control member proximally to proximally pull the pull member in conjunction with the resilient member to thereby deflect the lumen of the distal deflection portion from the first configuration to the second configuration; (e) moving the distal opening of the guide catheter along a second path in a second direction transverse to the first direction such that the distal deflection portion advances around the first anatomical structure of the anatomy such that the distal deflection portion is in contact with the first anatomical structure of the anatomy about the passageway and the distal opening aligns with the passageway of the anatomy; and (f) advancing a guidewire through the deflected lumen of the guide catheter to contact or pass through the desired location and the second anatomical structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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(a) advancing a guide catheter into a head of the patient along a first path through a nostril of a patient; (b) providing a deflection member coupled with the guide catheter, wherein the deflection member is configured to deflect a distal portion of the guide catheter from a first configuration to a second configuration; (c) positioning a distal end of the guide catheter at or near a first anatomical structure within the head that defines a passageway, wherein the distal end has a distal opening, wherein the first anatomical structure prevents access to a second anatomical structure within the head via the first path; (d) using the deflection member coupled with the guide catheter to deflect the distal portion of the guide catheter from the first configuration to the second configuration; (e) advancing the distal portion of the guide catheter along a second path into a position around the first anatomical structure such that the distal portion of the guide catheter is in contact with the first anatomical structure about the passageway and the distal opening aligns with the passageway of the first anatomical structure, wherein the second path is generally transverse to the first path; and (f) advancing a guidewire through the guide catheter to contact or pass through or into the second anatomical structure.
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Specification