DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS TO FIXATE TISSUE WITHIN THE REGIONS OF BODY, SUCH AS THE PHARYNGEAL CONDUIT

• US 20150073565A1
• Filed: 06/16/2014
• Published: 03/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: NELSON, Lionel M., DOELLING, Eric N., LAX, Ronald G., LIU, Jinfang, BOUCHER, Ryan P., WILL, Allan R.
• Application Number:
  US14/305,102
• Publication Number:
  US 20150073565A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/23.72
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/00 Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses, i.e. artificial substitutes or replacements for parts of the body; Appliances for connecting them with the body; Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents as cosmetic articles, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. wigs, hair pieces, A41G3/00, A41G5/00; artificial nails A45D31/00; dental prostheses A61C13/00; materials for prostheses A61L27/00; artificial hearts A61M60/00; artificial kidneys A61M1/14
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/04 Hollow or tubular parts of organs, e.g. bladders, tracheae, bronchi or bile ducts A61F2/18, A61F2/20 take precedence; devices, other than stent-grafts, providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body other than stent-grafts, e.g. stents A61F2/82; instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts A61F2/95
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2250/006 modular
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/56 Devices for preventing snoring by influencing the respiratory system by gas treatment A61M16/00

Abstract

Devices, systems and methods develop static and/or kinetic and/or pressure forces to fixate or brace tissue in targeted pharyngeal structures and individual anatomic components within the pharyngeal conduit.

Claims

1. An arrangement adapted to resist collapse of a portion of a pharyngeal wall, the arrangement comprising:

a plurality of individual implants, each of the implants being sized and configured for implantation in the portion of the pharyngeal wall and once implanted, are sized and configured to be movable among;

a first arrangement in which the plurality of individual implants are spaced a predetermined distance apart along an arc defined by a radius, and

a second arrangement in which one or both of the distance or radius has decreased.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein when disposed in the second arrangement, one or more of the individual implants are disposed in direct contact with another one or more of the individual implants.

3. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein each of the individual implants are linked together by a material.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the material comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of:

a plastic, a metal, a fabric, a textile, and a ceramic.

5. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the material is of a negligible stiffness.

6. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the material is of a stiffness sufficient to impart a flexural resistance upon adjacent implants linked thereby.

7. An implant sized and configured for implantation in a portion of a pharyngeal wall and adapted to resist collapse of the portion of the pharyngeal wall, the implant comprising:

a body comprising a plurality of segments, each segment being coupled to an adjacent segment via a hinge point,

wherein the body is flexible from among;

a first arrangement in which each of the hinge points are disposed on an open position, and

a second arrangement in which one or more of the hinge points are disposed in a closed position such that the one or more hinge points disposed in the closed position resist further flex of the body such hinge points.

8. The implant of claim 7 wherein the body comprises one or more of a plastic, metal, fabric, or ceramic material.

9. The implant of claim 7 wherein each hinge point is adapted to delimit a spacing and a closure angle of the segments connected thereby.

10. The implant of claim 9 wherein the spacing delimited by one hinge point differs from the spacing delimited by another hinge point.

11. The implant of claim 7 wherein closure angle delimited by one hinge point differs from the closure angle delimited by another hinge point.

12. The implant of claim 7 wherein each of the segments is formed from a generally inelastic material.

13. The implant of claim 7 wherein each of the segments is formed as a spring-like structure.

15. A method of bracing a portion of a pharyngeal wall, the method comprising implanting the implant of claim 7 in a portion of a pharyngeal wall.

14. A method of bracing a portion of a pharyngeal wall, the method comprising:

surgically implanting a plurality of individual implants at predetermined spacings along an arc-shaped arrangement in the pharyngeal wall.