Tissue anchor and delivery tool

• US 10,433,963 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2017
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 4Tech Inc.
• Original Assignee: 4Tech Inc.
• Inventors: Tobis, Idan
• Primary Examiner(s): Mathew, Seema
• Application Number:
  US15/436,174
• Publication Number:
  US 20170156719A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0401 Suture anchors, buttons or pledgets, i.e. means for attaching sutures to bone, cartilage or soft tissue; Instruments for applying or removing suture anchors A61B17/0642 takes precedence; fixation devices for tendons or ligaments A61F2/0811
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0469 Suturing instruments for use in minimally invasive surgery, e.g. endoscopic surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/06166 Sutures suture materials A61L17/00; manufacture of artificial threads D01D; treatment of threads D06M
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/064 Surgical staples, i.e. penetrating the tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/068 Surgical staplers , e.g. containing multiple staples or clampsstaplers containing only one staple A61B17/10; magazines or containers for staples A61B17/105; for performing anastomosis A61B17/115; staplers in general B25C5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00243 cardiac
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00314 Separate linked members
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0409 Instruments for applying suture anchors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0412 having anchoring barbs or pins extending outwardly from suture anchor body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0414 having a suture-receiving opening, e.g. lateral opening
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0441 the shaft being a rigid coil or spiral
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0443 the shaft being resilient and having a coiled or helical shape in the released state
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0464 for soft tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/048 for reducing heart wall tension, e.g. sutures with a pad on each extremity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0488 Instruments for applying suture clamps, clips or locks
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0496 for tensioning sutures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0649 Coils or spirals
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2445 Annuloplasty rings in direct contact with the valve annulus
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2451 Inserts in the coronary sinus for correcting the valve shape
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2457 Chordae tendineae prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/246 : Devices for obstructing a leak through a native valve in a closed condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2466 : Delivery devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2487 : Devices within the heart chamber, e.g. splints
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/915 : with bands having a meander structure, adjacent bands being connected to each other
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/95 : Instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 : the retaining means being filaments or wires
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0008 : Fixation appliances for connecting prostheses to the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2230/0013 : Horseshoe-shaped, e.g. crescent-shaped, C-shaped, U-shaped
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2230/0054 : V-shaped

Abstract

A torque-delivering cable is provided, which includes a first coupling. The torque-delivering cable and the first coupling are shaped so as to collectively define a first passage therethrough. A tissue anchor is further provided, which includes a tissue-engaging element and a second coupling, which second coupling is shaped so as to define a second passage therethrough. The first and the second couplings are interlockingly coupleable to each other. An elongate longitudinal locking element is additionally provided, which is shaped so as to define a sharp tip, and which (a) when reversibly disposed in the first and the second passages, maintains coupling together of the first and the second couplings, and (b) when withdrawn from the second passage, allows decoupling of the first and the second coupling from each another.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising:

a torque-delivering cable, which comprises a first coupling, wherein the torque-delivering cable and the first coupling are shaped so as to collectively define a first passage therethrough;

a tissue anchor, which comprises a tissue-engaging element and a second coupling, which second coupling is shaped so as to define a second passage therethrough open to a space surrounded by the tissue-engaging element, wherein the first and the second couplings are interlockingly coupleable to each other; and

an elongate longitudinal locking element, which is configured to be advanceable into the space surrounded by the tissue-engaging element, and which;

when reversibly disposed in the first and the second passages, maintains coupling together of the first and the second couplings, and

when withdrawn from the second passage, allows decoupling of the first and the second couplings from each another,

wherein the torque-delivering cable is configured such that rotation thereof, when the first and the second couplings are coupled together, rotates the first and the second couplings, and thereby the tissue anchor.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elongate longitudinal locking element comprises a rod.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tissue-engaging element is helical.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a flexible longitudinal member, which is fixed to the tissue anchor.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elongate longitudinal locking element is shaped so as to define a sharp tip.

6. A method comprising:

advancing a tissue anchor toward an implantation site using a torque-delivering cable, which comprises a first coupling, wherein (a) the torque-delivering cable and the first coupling are shaped so as to collectively define a first passage therethrough, (b) the tissue anchor comprises a tissue-engaging element and a second coupling, which second coupling is shaped so as to define a second passage therethrough open to a space surrounded by the tissue-engaging element, and (c) the first and the second couplings are interlockingly coupled to each other by an elongate longitudinal locking element, which is (i) reversibly disposed in the first and the second passages so as to maintain coupling together of the first and the second couplings and (ii) advanced into the space surrounded by the tissue-engaging element;

implanting the tissue-engaging element in tissue at the implantation site by screwing the tissue-engaging element into the tissue by rotating the torque-delivering cable, when the first and the second couplings are coupled together, thereby rotating the first and the second couplings and thus rotating the tissue anchor;

thereafter, withdrawing the elongate longitudinal locking element from the second passage to facilitate decoupling of the first and the second couplings from each another;

thereafter, decoupling the first and the second couplings from each other; and

thereafter, withdrawing the torque-delivering tool.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the elongate longitudinal locking element comprises a rod.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the tissue-engaging element is helical.

9. The method according to claim 6, further comprising applying tension to the tissue anchor using a flexible longitudinal member that is fixed to the tissue anchor.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein implanting the tissue-engaging element in the issue comprises advancing the sharp tip of the elongate longitudinal locking member to the tissue such that the sharp tip punctures the tissue, and thereafter screwing the tissue-engaging element into the tissue.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein the elongate longitudinal locking element is shaped so as to define a sharp tip.