Vaso-occlusion coil and method
First Claim
1. A flexible, vaso-occlusive wire designed for occluding a vessel having a selected cross-sectional area, when the wire is released into the vessel from a small-diameter catheter, said wire being characterized by:
- (a) a relaxed condition in which the wire assumes a folded, convoluted conformation which is adapted to form a substantially space-filling body having a substantially predetermined diameter when the wire is in said released condition,(b) a stretched condition in which the wire has a linear conformation in which the wire can be pushed through said catheter, and(c) a memory which returns the wire from its stretched to its relaxed condition, as the wire is released from said catheter in the vessel, thereby forming a space-filling, vaso-occlusive body which is lodged in the vessel at the site of release, the size of the wire and relaxed shape of the body being such as to occlude the vessel at said site.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible, preferably coiled wire for use in small-vessel vaso-occlusion. The wire has a stretched, linear condition in which it can be advanced through a catheter lumen to a selected vessel, and a relaxed, convoluted condition produced by a combination of a helical winding of the wire, and irregularities of the helical winding. When the wire is released from a catheter into a vessel, it assumes a randomly coiled, substantially space-filling mass which is lodged at the site of release. In a preferred embodiment, the helical winding in the wire'"'"'s relaxed condition has about the same diameter as that of the vessel, and the wire, in its stretched condition, has a length of about 15-20 times the vessel diameter.
1776 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A flexible, vaso-occlusive wire designed for occluding a vessel having a selected cross-sectional area, when the wire is released into the vessel from a small-diameter catheter, said wire being characterized by:
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(a) a relaxed condition in which the wire assumes a folded, convoluted conformation which is adapted to form a substantially space-filling body having a substantially predetermined diameter when the wire is in said released condition, (b) a stretched condition in which the wire has a linear conformation in which the wire can be pushed through said catheter, and (c) a memory which returns the wire from its stretched to its relaxed condition, as the wire is released from said catheter in the vessel, thereby forming a space-filling, vaso-occlusive body which is lodged in the vessel at the site of release, the size of the wire and relaxed shape of the body being such as to occlude the vessel at said site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A flexible, vaso-occlusive wire designed for occluding a vessel having a selected cross-sectional area, when the wire is released into the vessel from a small-diameter catheter, said wire being characterized by:
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(a) a stretched, substantially linear condition in which the wire can be pushed through the catheter; (b) a relaxed, substantially convoluted condition formed by a combination of a helical winding in the wire which has a winding diameter substantially that of the vessel to be occluded, and irregularities in the helical winding which cause the wire to assume a substantially random, space filling body when released from a catheter into the vessel, (c) a memory which returns the wire from its stretched to its relaxed condition, as the wire is released from said catheter in the vessel, thereby to form a space-filling, vaso-occlusive body which is lodged in the vessel at the site of release, the size of the wire and relaxed shape of the body being such as to occlude the vessel at said site. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A catheter system for use in occluding a vessel having a selected cross-sectional area, said system comprising:
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(i) a catheter having a small-diameter inner lumen and designed to access a selected site of occlusion in said vessel, (ii) a flexible vaso-occlusive wire characterized by; (a) a stretched, substantially linear condition in which the wire can be pushed through said catheter; (b) a relaxed, substantially convoluted condition formed by a combination of a helical winding in the wire which has a winding diameter substantially that of the vessel to be occluded, and irregularities in such helical winding which cause the wire to assume a substantially random, space filling body when released from the catheter into the vessel, (c) a memory which returns the wire from its stretched to its relaxed condition, as the wire is released from such catheter in the vessel, thereby to form a space-filling, vaso-occlusive mass which is lodged in the vessel at the site of release, and (d) a pusher for advancing the wire in its stretched condition through the catheter to the selected site of occlusion. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of occluding a selected site in a vessel having an inner lumen diameter of between about 2-4 mm, said method comprising
accessing the site with a catheter having a small-diameter lumen, advancing through the catheter, a flexible vaso-occlusive wire characterized by: -
(a) a stretched, substantially linear condition in which the wire can be pushed through said catheter; (b) a relaxed, substantially convoluted condition formed by a combination of a helical winding in the wire which has a winding diameter substantially that of the vessel to be occluded, and irregularities in such helical winding which cause the wire to assume a substantially random, space filling body when released from a catheter into the vessel, (c) a memory which returns the wire from its stretched to its relaxed condition, as the wire is released from said catheter in the vessel, and releasing the wire from the catheter at the vessel, thereby forming a space-filling, vaso-occlusive body which is lodged in the vessel at the site of release. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification