Pancreas lead

• US 20090062893A1
• Filed: 03/16/2006
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tylerton International Inc.
• Original Assignee: META CURE Limited
• Inventors: Levi, Tamir, Rousso, Benny, Spehr, Paul Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,244,371 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/116
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/05 for implantation or insertion into the body, e.g. heart electrode A61N1/06 takes precedence

Abstract

An implant device comprising an electrode for electrical stimulation of the pancreas, the device being adapted to be inserted into the pancreas, and to change at least one of its properties after being inserted into the pancreas, so that it will cause less irritation to the pancreas than before changing said property.

Claims

1. An implant device comprising an electrode for electrical stimulation of the pancreas, the device being adapted to be inserted into the pancreas, and to change at least one of its properties after being inserted into the pancreas, so that it will cause less irritation to the pancreas than before changing said property.

2. An implant device according to claim 1, comprising an inserting element adapted to assist the device in being inserted into the pancreas, wherein the device is adapted to become mechanically decoupled from the inserting element after the device is inserted into the pancreas.

3. An implant device according to claim 2, adapted to have the inserting element removed from the pancreas after the device is inserted into the pancreas.

4. An implant device according to claim 2, wherein the inserting element comprises a needle which is adapted to go through the pancreas and to pull the electrode into the pancreas.

5. An implant device according to claim 2, wherein the inserting element comprises a stiffening element.

6. An implant device according to claim 5, wherein the electrode is hollow with the stiffening element inside.

7. An implant device according to claim 6, wherein the stiffening element is a thread coupled to the device, and including a trigger element which releases the thread from being coupled to the device.

8. An implant device according to claim 7, wherein the thread is coupled to the device by forming a loop which is pulled tight around the trigger element, and the trigger element releases the thread by being pulled out from the loop.

9. An implant device according to claim 7, also including a plate, attached to the device, with a hole in it that an end of the thread is threaded through, wherein the thread is coupled to the device by having said end of the thread knotted, and the trigger element comprises a cutting implement which releases the thread by cutting off the knotted portion of the thread.

10. An implant device according to claim 7, wherein the electrode comprises a crimp in its hollow interior which couples the thread to the device, and an opening which makes a portion of the thread accessible from outside the electrode, and wherein the trigger element comprises a cutting implement which releases the thread by cutting the thread through the opening.

11. An implant device according to claim 1, including a sleeve surrounding the electrode, adapted to be sufficiently well electrically coupled to the electrode and to the pancreas for electrical stimulation therapy of the pancreas by the electrode, when the device is inserted into the pancreas.

12. An implant device according to claim 11, wherein the sleeve is adapted to become better coupled mechanically to the pancreas after the device is inserted into the pancreas.

13. An implant device according to claim 12, wherein the sleeve comprises one or more tines adapted to become set in the pancreas.

14. An implant device according to claim 12, wherein the sleeve is adapted to expand inside the pancreas, thereby increasing its mechanical coupling to the pancreas.

15. An implant device according to claim 12, wherein the sleeve is adapted to become glued to the pancreas after the device is inserted into the pancreas.

16. An implant device according to claim 11, wherein the sleeve is adapted to become mechanically less coupled from the electrode after the device is inserted into the pancreas.

17. An implant device according to claim 11, wherein the sleeve is sufficiently soft so that it causes less irritation to the pancreas than the electrode would cause if the electrode were directly in contact with the interior of the pancreas without a sleeve.

18. An implant device according to claim 1, adapted to become one or both of softer and more flexible after the device is inserted into the pancreas.

19. An implant device according to claim 18, comprising a coating of a hard material adapted to dissolve inside the pancreas.

20. An implant device according to claim 19, wherein the hard material comprises a sugar.

21. An implant device according to claim 19, wherein the coating is on the outside of the electrode.

22. An implant device according to claim 19, wherein the electrode is hollow, and the coating is inside the electrode, thereby making the electrode stiffer.

23. An implant device according to claim 1, also including a lead for supplying current to the electrode, the lead being adapted to being anchored at an anchoring point inside the body, and being sufficiently long and flexible so that a one centimeter increase in distance between the anchoring point and the implanted electrode causes the lead to exert a force no greater than 0.01 newtons on the pancreas.

24. An implant device according to claim 1, also including tines coupled to the electrode, oriented so as to prevent the electrode from moving back out of the pancreas after the electrode is implanted in the pancreas.

25. An implant device according to claim 1, wherein the electrode is coated with a layer of material capable of reversibly holding at least 100 microcoulombs of ions.

26. An implant device comprising:

a) an electrode for electrical stimulation of the pancreas; and

b) a sleeve, through which the electrode is electrically coupled to the pancreas with a resistance less than 20 ohms.

27. An implant device according to claim 26, wherein the sleeve is one or both of sufficiently soft and sufficiently well-coupled mechanically to the pancreas so that the sleeve causes less irritation to the pancreas than the electrode would if the electrode were directly in contact with the interior of the pancreas without a sleeve.

28. A method of implanting an electrical stimulation device in the pancreas, comprising:

a) inserting the device into the pancreas; and

b) changing at least one property of the device after inserting it into the pancreas, so that it causes less irritation to the pancreas.