Mechanically expandable occluder

• US 20060052814A1
• Filed: 09/07/2004
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Vascular, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Vascular, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Sater, Ghaleb A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,597,703 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/200
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/12022 Occluding by internal devices, e.g. balloons or releasable wires plugging an opening in the wall of an organ A61B17/0057; occluders for the cervical canal A61F6/146; vas deferens occluders A61F6/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/12172 having a pre-set deployed three-dimensional shape methods of manufacturing A61B2017/00526
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/22038 with a guide wire
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/22042 Details of the tip of the guide wire
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/22067 Blocking; Occlusion A61B2017/22054 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/1052 for temporarily occluding a vessel for isolating a sector

Abstract

An occluder catheter having an outer tube, an inner shaft extending slidably through the outer tube, and two expanders attached, respectively, to the distal ends of the inner shaft and the outer tube. The expanders each have a plurality of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally oriented fingers. The fingers each have radially expandable ends and radially constrained ends and the fingers of each expander are interposed with the fingers of the other expander. A flexible non-porous sleeve covers at least the fingers of both expanders. By moving the outer tube with respect to the inner shaft, the occluder is transformable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration wherein the fingers of at least one of the expanders are radially splayed to dilate the sleeve. One embodiment of the invention incorporates a single expander having circumferentially juxtaposed fingers, the expander being mated with a deflector ring.

Claims

1. An occluder for use in a tubular vessel of a human body, the occluder comprising:

a pair of expanders, each expander having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally oriented fingers, the fingers of each expander being conjoined at a first end of the respective expander and being radially expandable at a second end of the respective expander, the expanders being aligned opposite each other such that the fingers of one expander are interposed with the fingers of the other expander; and

a flexible non-porous sleeve mounted about the expanders, wherein the occluder is transformable between a collapsed configuration and a radially expanded configuration.

2. The occluder of claim 1, wherein the pair of expanders are longitudinally movable with respect to each other, and the fingers are interposed to a greater extent in the expanded configuration than in the collapsed configuration.

3. The occluder of claim 2, wherein, in the expanded configuration, the fingers of at least one of the expanders are radially splayed to dilate the sleeve.

4. The occluder of claim 2, wherein, in the collapsed configuration, the pair of expanders defines a hollow cylinder.

5. The occluder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the expanders is formed integrally from a tube.

6. The occluder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the expanders is formed as an assembly comprising a tube and a plurality of discrete fingers affixed thereto.

7. An occluder for use in a tubular vessel of a human body, the occluder comprising:

an expander having a plurality of circumferentially arranged, longitudinally oriented fingers, each finger having a first end conjoined to the first end of an adjacent finger, and each finger having a second end that is radially expandable;

a deflector ring aligned with and disposed adjacent the second ends of the fingers; and

a flexible non-porous sleeve mounted about the expander and the ring, wherein the occluder is transformable between a collapsed configuration and a radially expanded configuration.

8. The occluder of claim 7, wherein the fingers are juxtaposed when the occluder is in the collapsed configuration.

9. The occluder of claim 7, wherein the fingers are spaced apart when the occluder is in the collapsed configuration.

10. The occluder of claim 7, wherein the expander and the deflector ring are longitudinally movable with respect to each other, and wherein, in the expanded configuration, the fingers of the expander are radially splayed about the ring to dilate the sleeve.

11. An occluder apparatus for use in a tubular vessel of a human body, the apparatus comprising:

an elongate outer tube having a distal end;

an elongate inner shaft having a distal end and extending slidably through the outer tube;

an occluder comprising;

a distal expander having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally oriented fingers, the fingers having radially expandable proximal ends and radially constrained distal ends coupled to the inner shaft adjacent the shaft distal end;

a proximal expander having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally oriented fingers, the fingers having radially expandable distal ends and radially constrained proximal ends coupled to the outer tube adjacent the tube distal end, the fingers of the proximal expander being interposed with the fingers of the distal expander; and

a flexible non-porous sleeve covering at least the fingers of both the distal and proximal expanders, the occluder being transformable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration wherein the fingers of at least one of the expanders are radially splayed to dilate the sleeve.

12. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein sliding the inner shaft within the outer tube effects relative longitudinal displacement of the distal and proximal expanders to cause transformation of the occluder between the expanded configuration and the collapsed configuration.

13. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein the inner shaft is selected from a group consisting of a core wire, a hollow shaft and a combination thereof.

14. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein the proximal expander is an integral portion of the outer tube.

15. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein the sleeve has two ends sealingly coupled about the catheter.

16. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein the non-porous sleeve comprises a material selected from a group consisting of a natural rubber, a synthetic rubber, a thermoplastic elastomer, a styrenic thermoplastic elastomer, a styrene-butylene-styrene, an inelastic thermoplastic, a polyester, a polyamide, a polyolefin, and a block co-polymer, a blend, a lamination, or a combination of the above materials.

17. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein, in the collapsed configuration, the finger ends rest between the adjacent interposed fingers

18. The occluder catheter of claim 11, wherein, on at least one of the expanders, the radially expandable finger ends are wider than the radially constrained finger ends.

19. The occluder catheter of claim 18, wherein, in the collapsed configuration, the wider finger ends rest upon the adjacent interposed fingers.