BRONCHOSCOPIC LUNG VOLUME REDUCTION METHOD
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of minimally invasively reducing a volume of a hyper-inflated target section of diseased lung comprising the steps of introducing a bronchoscope into a patient'"'"'s airway to a position adjacent the target section and equilibrating air within the target section with atmospheric air to at least partially deflate the target lung section; injecting an inflammation-causing substance into the target section to precipitate adhesion of the walls within the target lung section, preventing substantial re-inflation of the target section by occluding an airway upstream of the target section for a period of time, and removing the airway occlusion after the target section has substantially permanently been reduced in volume. The injected substance can be autologous blood or a constituent thereof.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1-27. -27. (canceled)
-
28. A method of delivering a gas to a lung region comprising:
-
steering a bronchoscope through an air passage way to position a distal end of the bronchoscope near a diseased target region; inserting a catheter through a lumen of the bronchoscope to position a distal end of the catheter near the diseased target region; placing, using the catheter, an occlusion device within the air passageway leading to the diseased target region; and delivering a gas to the diseased target region, wherein the gas is an inflammation-triggering gas for treating the diseased target region.
-
Specification