Medical grafting connectors and fasteners
First Claim
1. A connector for use in connecting an axial end portion of a tubular medical graft to the side wall of a patient'"'"'s tubular body tissue conduit so that the lumen of the graft communicates with the lumen of the conduit through an aperture in the side wall of the conduit to permit body fluid flow between the lumens without leakage of body fluid to the outside of the graft and the conduit adjacent the connector comprising:
- an annular structure having first and second axially adjacent substructures, the first substructure being configured to be disposed substantially concentrically inside the axial end portion of the graft and being circumferentially enlargeable to press the axial end portion of the graft radially outwardly toward the body tissue surrounding the aperture, and the second substructure including a plurality of struts that are configured to extend from a first position in which the struts are substantially longitudinal to an axis about which the annular structure is substantially coaxial to a second position in which the struts are radially outward and substantially perpendicular to the axis to engage the body tissue surrounding the aperture and hold the axial end portion of the graft in body-fluid-tight engagement with the side wall of the conduit annularly around the aperture, wherein the first substructure is resiliently biased to circumferentially enlarge to at least some degree by itself and wherein the annular structure further comprises a tissue clamping structure configured to move toward the struts in response to circumferential enlargement of the annular structure in order to clamp tissue between the clamping structure and the struts.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A body tissue graft for use in a patient includes a frame structure made of a first elastic material, a covering of a second elastic material on the frame structure, the covering substantially filling openings in the frame structure, and a connector connected to the frame structure. Projections are secured to the connector structure. The projections facilitate attachment of the tubular graft in a patient by securing the graft to the body tissue with which the graft is employed. The connector selectively circumferentially expands and the projections selectively circumferentially expand. This may be done using an inflatable balloon to circumferentially expand the projections. A restraining member may be provided to restrain the projections in a cone shape so that an end of the graft may be used to open an aperture through a side wall of existing body organ tubing and a portion of the projections may enter the aperture.
145 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A connector for use in connecting an axial end portion of a tubular medical graft to the side wall of a patient'"'"'s tubular body tissue conduit so that the lumen of the graft communicates with the lumen of the conduit through an aperture in the side wall of the conduit to permit body fluid flow between the lumens without leakage of body fluid to the outside of the graft and the conduit adjacent the connector comprising:
an annular structure having first and second axially adjacent substructures, the first substructure being configured to be disposed substantially concentrically inside the axial end portion of the graft and being circumferentially enlargeable to press the axial end portion of the graft radially outwardly toward the body tissue surrounding the aperture, and the second substructure including a plurality of struts that are configured to extend from a first position in which the struts are substantially longitudinal to an axis about which the annular structure is substantially coaxial to a second position in which the struts are radially outward and substantially perpendicular to the axis to engage the body tissue surrounding the aperture and hold the axial end portion of the graft in body-fluid-tight engagement with the side wall of the conduit annularly around the aperture, wherein the first substructure is resiliently biased to circumferentially enlarge to at least some degree by itself and wherein the annular structure further comprises a tissue clamping structure configured to move toward the struts in response to circumferential enlargement of the annular structure in order to clamp tissue between the clamping structure and the struts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A connector for use in connecting an axial end portion of a tubular medical graft to the side wall of a patient'"'"'s tubular body tissue conduit so that the lumen of the graft communicates with the lumen of the conduit through an aperture in the side wall of the conduit to permit body fluid flow between the lumens without leakage of body fluid to the outside of the graft and the conduit adjacent the connector comprising:
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an annular structure having first and second axially adjacent substructures, the first substructure being configured to be disposed substantially concentrically inside the axial end portion of the graft and being circumferentially enlargeable to press the axial end portion of the graft radially outwardly toward the body tissue surrounding the aperture, and the second substructure including a plurality of struts that are configured to extend from a first position in which the struts are substantially longitudinal to an axis about which the annular structure is substantially coaxial to a second position in which the struts are radially outward and substantially perpendicular to the axis to engage the body tissue surrounding the aperture and hold the axial end portion of the graft in body-fluid-tight engagement with the side wall of the conduit annularly around the aperture, wherein the first substructure is resiliently biased to circumferentially enlarge to at least some degree by itself and wherein the struts are resiliently biased to extend from the first position to the second position, and wherein the struts form a cone which has its apex on an axis about which the annular structure is substantially coaxial when in the first position; and
a removable member around the struts, wherein the removable member comprises a wire wrapped around the struts.
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6. A connector for use in connecting an axial end portion of a tubular medical graft to the side wall of a patient'"'"'s tubular body tissue conduit so that the lumen of the graft communicates with the lumen of the conduit through an aperture in the side wall of the conduit to permit body fluid flow between the lumens without leakage of body fluid to the outside of the graft and the conduit adjacent the connector comprising:
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an annular structure having first and second axially adjacent substructures, the first substructure being configured to be disposed substantially concentrically inside the axial end portion of the graft and being circumferentially enlargeable to press the axial end portion of the graft radially outwardly toward the body tissue surrounding the aperture, and the second substructure including a plurality of struts that are configured to extend from a first position in which the struts are substantially longitudinal to an axis about which the annular structure is substantially coaxial to a second position in which the struts are radially outward and substantially perpendicular to the axis to engage the body tissue surrounding the aperture and hold the axial end portion of the graft in body-fluid-tight engagement with the side wall of the conduit annularly around the aperture, wherein the first substructure is resiliently biased to circumferentially enlarge to at least some degree by itself and wherein the struts are resiliently biased to extend from the first position to the second position, and wherein the struts form a cone which has its apex on an axis about which the annular structure is substantially coaxial when in the first position; and
a removable member around the struts, wherein the removable member comprises a coil around the struts configured to release the struts when the coil is rotated about its central longitudinal axis.
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Specification