FORCE TRANSMITTING INTRAUTERINE DEVICE

• US 3,789,838 A
• Filed: 02/19/1971
• Issued: 02/05/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alberto Lomeo, Erick-Pierre Fournier
• Original Assignee: Alberto Lomeo, Erick-Pierre Fournier
• Inventors: Fournier, Erick-Pierre, Lomeo, Alberto
• Primary Examiner(s): Gaudet, Richard A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): McGowan, J. C.
• Application Number:
  US05/116,867
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 128/127-131,261,263,260 24/81,252
• US Class Current: 128/839
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 6/142 Wirelike structures, e.g. loops, rings, spirals

Abstract

An intrauterine contraceptive device having substantial surface area for contact with the endometrium and capable of being releasably contracted to a size and shape for ready passage into the uterus and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the walls of the uterine cavity in the mid-uterine area above the level of the internal so to resist expulsion, and thereafter of being readily removed, together with an introducer implement for releasably contracting the device in the proper orientation for insertion are disclosed.

Claims

1. An intrauterine contraceptive device comprising a substantially membranous readily deformable and inwardly contractible but resilient planar body having an outer substantially lobate contour including upper and lower pairs of resilient, structural uterine wall bearing lobes laterally disposed in substantial mirror-image relation with respect to a common symmetrical axis extending longitudinally therebetween when in unstressed condition, said planar body further comprising a pair of diagonally extending crossed structural force transmitting members operatively interconnecting in direct force transmitting relation diagonally opposed lobes of said upper and lower lobe pairs whereby forces exerted on said lobes by said uterine walls are contralaterally transmitted and diffused through said body and inward compression of a lobate region by uterine wall forces being thereon causes the diagonally associated lobate region to exert increased outward pressure on said uterine wall.

2. An intrauterine contraceptive device capable of being readily compressed for passage into the uterine cavity and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the uterine walls to resist expulsion, said device compriSing a substantially planar, readily deformable, pliable but resilient body of a resilient substantially filamentary frame having an outer substantially lobate contour including upper and lower pairs of resilient, structural uterine wall bearing lobes laterally, outwardly disposed in mirror-image relation defining a common longitudinal axis of symmetry when in unstressed condition, said device being adapted by location within said uterine cavity such that said axis is substantially aligned with the cervical canal, said filamentary frame of said body also having a pair of resilient, structural force transmitting members diagonally extending in crossed relation across said axis operatively interconnecting in force transmitting relation diagonally opposed lobes of said upper and lower pairs, said force transmitting members being independently freely rotationally and translationally movable relative to each other, said upper and lower structural lobes and said pair of structural force transmitting members defining a configuration having two free ends and being continuously traceable between said two ends, whereby forces exerted on said lobes by said uterine walls are contralaterally transmitted and diffused through said body and inward compression of any one of said four lobate regions by uterine wall forces bearing thereon causes the diagonally associated lobate region to exert increased outward pressure on said uterine wall, said resilient body further comprising membrane means operatively associated with said frame providing substantial surface area for contact with the endometrium when said device is positioned within said uterine cavity.

3. A device as defined in claim 2, said membrane means forming membranous surfaces having asperities substantially regularly distributed thereon.

4. An interauterine contraceptive device capable of being readily compressed for passage into the uterine cavity and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the uterine walls to resist expulsion, said device comprising a substantially planar readily deformable pliable but resilient body having an outer substantially lobate contour including upper and lower pairs of resilient, structural uterine wall bearing lobes laterally, outwardly disposed in mirror-image relation defining a common longitudinal axis of symmetry when in unstressed condition, said device being adapted for location within said uterine cavity such that said axis is substantially aligned with the cervical canal, said resilient body further comprising a pair of resilient, structural force transmitting members diagonally extending in crossed relation across said axis operatively interconnecting in force transmitting relation diagonally opposed lobes of said upper and lower pairs, said force transmitting members being independently freely rotationally and translationally movable relative to each other, said upper and lower structural lobes and said pairs of structural force transmitting members defining a configuration having two free ends and being continuously traceable between said two ends, whereby forces exerted on said lobes by said uterine walls are contralaterally transmitted and diffused through said body and inward compression of any one of said four lobate regions by uterine wall forces bearing thereon causes the diagonally associated lobate region to exert increased outward pressure on said uterine wall, and knurl forming means disposed on the outer wall bearing surfaces of said lobes for gripping the uterine wall to provide stability and resistance to downward displacement of the device.

5. An intrauterine contraceptive device capable of being readily compressed for passage into the uterine cavity and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the uterine walls to resist expulsion, and thereafter of being readily contracted for removal, said device comprising two substantially similar resilient S-shaped force transmitting members having respective upper and lower arcuate sections, said members in unsTressed conditions being arranged in substantially planar overlapped mirror-image relation with their said upper and lower arcuate sections outwardly disposed with respect to a symmetrical axis extending longitudinally therebetween, said device being adapted for location within said uterine cavity with said axis substantially aligned with the cervical canal and said upper and lower arcuate sections forming lateral uterine wall bearing lobes, said device further comprising spring-hinge means normally resiliently joining the terminal portions of said lower arcuate sections and manually operable withdrawal means operatively associated therewith for deactuating the resilient forces of said hinge means to permit said force transmitting members to be non-resiliently readily contracted towards said longitudinal axis for removal of the device, said upper arcuate sections of said members terminating in free ends, and said spring-hinge means comprising a substantially filamentary extension of said force transmitting members forming an inverted-V expansion joint having an apex substantially coincident with said longitudinal axis.

6. A device as defined in claim 5, said withdrawal means comprising zones of weakness formed in said force transmitting members at their junctions with the base of said inverted-V joint and means for inverting said joint, said means comprising filament means connected to said apex of said joint and adapted to be readily externally accessible for exerting a downward force thereon.

7. An intrauterine contraceptive device capable of being readily compressed for passage into the uterine cavity and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the uterine walls to resist expulsion, and thereafter of being readily contracted for removal, said device comprising two substantially similar resilient S-shaped force transmitting members having respective upper and lower arcuate sections, said members in unstressed condition being arranged in substantially planar overlapped mirror-image relation with their said upper and lower arcuate sections outwardly disposed with respect to a symmetrical axis extending longitudinally therebetween, said device being adapted for location within said uterine cavity with said axis substantially aligned with the cervical canal and said upper and lower arcuate sections forming lateral uterine wall bearing lobes, said device further comprising spring-hinge means normally resiliently joining the terminal portions of said lower arcuate sections and manually operable withdrawal means operatively associated therewith for deactuating the resilient forces of said hinge means to permit said force transmitting members to be non-resiliently readily contracted towards said longitudinal axis for removal of the device, aid upper arcuate sections of said members terminating in free ends, and membrane means secured to said force transmitting members providing substantial surface area for frictional contact with the endometrium when said device is positioned within said uterine cavity.

8. A device as defined in claim 7, said membrane means forming membranous surfaces having asperities substantially regularly distributed thereon.

9. A device as defined in claim 7, said membrane means comprising a membranous region secured to the lower terminal portion of each of said upper arcuate sections of said force transmitting members.

10. A device as defined in claim 7, said membrane means comprising a membranous region operatively associated with said force transmitting members at their area of overlap.

11. A device as defined in claim 7, said membrane means comprising a membranous region secured to each of said lower arcuate sections of said force transmitting members.

12. An intrauterine contraceptive device capable of being readily compressed for passage into the uterine cavity and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the uterine walls to resist expulsion, and thereafter of being readily contracted for removal, Said device comprising two substantially similar resilient S-shaped force transmitting members having respective upper and lower arcuate sections, said members in unstressed condition being arranged in substantially planar overlapped mirror-image relation with their said upper and lower arcuate sections outwardly disposed with respect to a symmetrical axis extending longitudinally therebetween, said device being adapted for location within said uterine cavity with said axis substantially aligned with the cervical canal and said upper and lower arcuate sections forming lateral uterine wall bearing lobes, said device further comprising spring-hinge means normally resiliently joining the terminal portions of said lower arcuate sections and manually operable withdrawal means operatively associated therewith for deactuating the resilient forces of said hinge means to permit said force transmitting members to be non-resiliently readily contracted towards said longitudinal axis for removal of the device, said upper arcuate sections of said members terminating in free ends, and knurl forming means disposed on the outer wall lobe bearing surfaces of said arcuate sections of said force transmitting members for gripping the uterine wall to provide stability and resistance to downward displacement of the device.

13. An intrauterine contraceptive device capable of being readily compressed for passage into the uterine cavity and, when released, of expanding to conformably engage the uterine walls to resist expulsion, and thereafter of being readily contracted for removal, said device comprising two substantially similar resilient S-shaped force transmitting members having respective upper and lower arcuate sections, said members in unstressed condition being arranged in substantially planar overlapped mirror-image relation with their upper and lower arcuate sections outwardly disposed with respect to a symmetrical axis extending longitudinally therebetween and wherein the overall unstressed transverse extent of said device between said pair of upper arcuate sections is substantially greater than between said pair of lower arcuate sections, and said force transmitting members overlap one another substantially mid-way along said longitudinal axis and extend thereat in relation to one another at an angle within the range of about 0* to 30*, said device being adapted for location within said uterine cavity with said axis substantially aligned with the cervical canal and said upper and lower arcuate sections forming lateral uterine wall bearing lobes, said device further comprising spring-hinge means normally resiliently joining the terminal portions of said lower arcuate sections and manually operable withdrawal means operatively associated therewith for deactuating the resilient forces of said hinge means to permit said force transmitting members to be non-resiliently readily contracted towards said longitudinal axis for removal of the device, said upper arcuate sections of said members terminating in free ends, said device having an overall dimension such that when in position within the uterus, its lower extremity is at a level substantially above the average level of the internal os and its lateral extremities are substantially spaced apart from the extreme lateral ends of said uterine cavity.

14. In an intrauterine contraceptive device having a longitudinal axis substantially aligned with the cervical canal when said device is properly positioned in the uterus and having two substantially filamentary arms normally substantially symmetrically disposed with respect to said axis in movable spaced apart relation and extending upwardly away from the cervical canal, spring-hinge means joining the terminal portions of said arms nearest said cervical canal when said device is properly positioned in the uterus resiliently resisting inward contraction of said arms towards said axis, and withdrawal means operatively associated with said spring-hinge means for deactuatiNg the resilient forces of said hinge means to permit said arms to be non-resiliently readily inwardly contracted towards said longitudinal axis for removal of the device, said spring-hinge means comprising a substantially filamentary extension of said arms forming an inverted-V expansion joint having an apex substantially coincident with said longitudinal axis and displaced with respect to the lowermost extremities of said arms upwardly away from said cervical canal when said device is properly positioned in the uterus, said withdrawal means comprising zones of weakness formed in said arms at their junctions with the base of said inverted-V joint and filament means affixed to said apex for inverting said joint upon exertion of a downward force thereon, said filament means being adapted to be readily externally accessible through the cervical canal.

15. In a device as defined in claim 14, said inverted-V joint having a substantially rounded contour at its apex serving as a means for dilating the cervical canal during removal of said device.

16. In an intrauterine contraceptive device having a longitudinal axis substantially aligned with the cervical canal when said device is properly positioned in the uterus and having two substantially filamentary arms normally substantially symmetrically disposed with respect to said axis in movable spaced apart relation and extending upwardly away from the cervical canal, spring-hinge means joining the terminal portions of said arms nearest said cervical canal when said device is properly positioned in the uterus resiliently resisting inward contraction of said arms towards said axis, said spring-hinge means comprising a filamentary extension of said arms forming a reversible inverted-V expansion joint having an apex substantially coincident with said longitudinal axis and displaced with respect to the lowermost extremities of said arms upwardly away from said cervical canal when said device is properly positioned in the uterus, means accessible externally of the uterus for inverting said inverted-V joint so that its said apex is substantially coincident with said longitudinal axis and displaced with respect to the lowermost extremities of said arms downwardly towards said cervical canal, said joint having a substantially rounder contour at its said apex when inverted whereby said joint serves to dilate the cervical canal during removal of said device.