Linearly expandable ureteral stent

• US 10,201,441 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2009
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Gellman, Barry N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Prebilic, Paul
• Application Number:
  US12/628,289
• Publication Number:
  US 20100076574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,360 Days
• Field of Search: 623 2364- 2371, 623 8, 623 1111
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/04 Hollow or tubular parts of organs, e.g. bladders, tracheae, bronchi or bile ducts A61F2/18, A61F2/20 take precedence; devices, other than stent-grafts, providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body other than stent-grafts, e.g. stents A61F2/82; instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts A61F2/95
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/88 the wire-like elements formed as helical or spiral coils forming a net-like or mesh-like structure A61F2/90
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 27/008 pre-shaped, for use in the urethral or ureteral tract

Abstract

A ureteral stent includes an elongated member, which has a tubular shape, and a distal retention structure. The elongated member includes a sidewall that defines a lumen and has a spiral-shaped opening with at least two rotations. The sidewall has an inner surface and an outer surface. The sidewall between the inner surface and the outer surface is devoid of another lumen. The elongated member is configured to move between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration along a longitudinal axis of the lumen. The distal retention structure is disposed at a distal end of the elongated member for retention in a kidney. The distal retention structure defines a lumen in fluid communication with the lumen defined by the sidewall of the elongated member.

Claims

1. A ureteral stent comprising:

a tube including a distal end and a proximal end, the tube having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, the inner diameter of the tube defining an internal lumen extending along a length of the tube, the tube being solid from the inner diameter to the other diameter, the tube having a slit such that the slit defines a spiral-shaped opening with a plurality of rotations, the slit extending through the tube to the internal lumen, the tube configured to move between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration along a longitudinal axis of the internal lumen; and

a distal retention structure disposed at the distal end of the tube for retention in a kidney, the distal retention structure defining an internal lumen through a body of the distal retention structure, the internal lumen of the distal retention structure being in fluid communication with the internal lumen of the tube, the internal lumen defined by the distal retention structure having a portion that extends away from the longitudinal axis of the internal lumen of the tube, the distal retention structure having a curved shape when in a first configuration,

wherein the distal retention structure is configured to receive a guide wire such that the guide wire extends through the internal lumen of the distal retention structure when in a second configuration different than the first configuration,

wherein the distal retention structure has most of its curvature removed when in the second configuration.

2. The ureteral stent of claim 1, wherein the distal retention structure defines an opening to the internal lumen of the distal retention structure on an end portion of the distal retention structure, the tube defining an opening to the internal lumen of the tube on an end portion of the tube wherein the opening to the internal lumen of the distal retention structure is exposed to the opening to the internal lumen of the tube such that the internal lumen of the distal retention structure is in fluid communication with the internal lumen of the tube.

3. The ureteral stent of claim 1, wherein the tube includes a single monolithic tube, and the internal lumen of the tube is defined by a cavity extending into the single monolithic tube.

4. The ureteral stent of claim 1, wherein the tube includes a polymer material, and the distal retention structure is a nylon or polyurethane.

5. The ureteral stent of claim 1, wherein a portion of the distal retention structure has a shape selected from a group consisting of a “

J”

shape, a coil shape, a pig-tail coil shape and a helical coil shape.

6. The ureteral stent of claim 1, further comprising a proximal retention structure disposed at a proximal end of the tube for retention in a bladder.

7. The ureteral stent of claim 6, wherein a portion of the proximal retention structure has a shape selected from a group consisting of a “

J”

shape, a coil shape, a pig-tail coil shape and a helical coil shape.

8. The ureteral stent of claim 1, wherein the tube is configured to move between the retracted configuration and the expanded configuration along the longitudinal axis in response to relative movement between the kidney and the bladder.

9. The ureteral stent of claim 1, wherein the tube includes a first material, and the distal retention structure includes a second material, a portion of the first material being coupled to a portion of the second material.

10. A ureteral stent comprising:

a tube having a proximal end and a distal end, the tube having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, the inner diameter of the tube defining an internal lumen extending along a length of the tube when the tube is in a refracted configuration, the tube being solid from the inner diameter to the outer diameter, the tube having a slit such that the slit defines a spiral-shaped opening with a plurality of rotations, the slit extending through the tube to the internal lumen, the tube being configured to move between the retracted configuration and an expanded configuration along a longitudinal axis of the tube; and

a distal retention structure disposed at the distal end of the tube for retention in a kidney, the distal retention structure defining an internal lumen through a body of the distal retention structure, the internal lumen of the distal retention structure being in fluid communication with the internal lumen defined by the inner diameter of the tube when the tube is in the retracted configuration, the distal retention structure having a first portion that extends away from the longitudinal axis of the tube and a second portion extending from the first portion and extending toward the proximal end of the tube, the distal retention structure having a curved shape when in a first configuration,

wherein the distal retention structure is configured to receive a guide wire such that the guide wire extends through the internal lumen of the distal retention structure when in a second configuration different than the first configuration,

wherein the distal retention structure has most of its curvature removed when in the second configuration.

11. The ureteral stent of claim 10, wherein the tube has a cross-section when the tube is in the expanded configuration, the cross-section being substantially quadrilateral in shape.

12. The ureteral stent of claim 10, wherein a portion of the distal retention structure has a shape selected from a group consisting of a “

J”

shape, a coil shape, a pig-tail coil shape and a helical coil shape.

13. The ureteral stent of claim 10, further comprising a proximal retention structure disposed at a proximal end of the tube for retention in a bladder.

14. The ureteral stent of claim 10, wherein the inner diameter of the tube that defines the internal lumen of the tube has a first value when the tube is in the expanded configuration, and the inner diameter of the tube that defines the internal lumen of the tube has a second value when the tube is in the retracted configuration, the second value being greater than the first value.