Urethral pressure catheter
First Claim
1. A method for measuring the constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
- inserting a catheter into the body lumen;
expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter into an enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and
measuring a resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of the constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Devices and methods for measuring the weakness of body lumens, and in particular, urethral sphincters and similar valves, are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a catheter with a hollow fluted distal end can be inserted into a lumen. The hollow fluted distal end of the catheter is then expanded into an enlarged configuration. The measurement of resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration provides an indication of weakness of the lumen. In one aspect of the invention, the catheter is inserted into a bladder via the urethral sphincter and the weakness of the urethral sphincter is measured. In another aspect of the invention, a device for measuring weakness of a body lumen, such as a urethral sphincter and similar valves, can consist of a catheter with a hollow fluted distal end having of an array of wings, and an expanding means for radially expanding the wings into an enlarged configuration. Subsequent withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration encounter resistances which can be measured as an indication of the weakness of the body lumen, such as a urethral sphincter and similar valves. In still another aspect of the invention, a system for measuring weakness of a body lumen can consist of a catheter, a means for expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter from a first configuration into a second enlarged configuration and means for measuring resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of weakness of the body lumen, such as the urethral sphincter and similar valves.
-
Citations
51 Claims
-
1. A method for measuring the constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
inserting a catheter into the body lumen; expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter into an enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and measuring a resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of the constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method for measuring the constrictive force of a urethral sphincter comprising:
-
inserting a catheter into a bladder via the urethral sphincter; expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter into an enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the urethral sphincter; and measuring resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of the urethral sphincter. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A device for measuring the constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
a catheter; a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter with an array of wings radially disposed, the array of wings being closed in a first configuration and being radially expanded in a second enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and means for expanding the array of wings of the hollow fluted distal end into the second enlarged configuration such that subsequent withdrawal of the hollow fluted distal end in the second enlarged configuration encounters resistance which can be measured as an indication of the constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A system for measuring the constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
a catheter; a means for expanding a hollow fluted distal end or the catheter from a first configuration into a second enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and a means for measuring resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A method for measuring constrictive force of a wall of a of a body lumen comprising:
-
inserting a catheter into the body lumen inserting a retracting cable inside the catheter into the body lumen such that a plunger distal end of the retracting cable extends beyond a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter; expanding the hollow fluted distal end of the catheter into an enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and measuring a resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of the wall of the body lumen. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
-
-
37. A method for measuring constrictive force of wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
inserting a catheter into a body lumen, said catheter being surrounded on the outside with a disposable plastic sheath forming a surrounded catheter; expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the surrounded catheter into an enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and measuring a resistance to withdrawal of the surrounded catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen.
-
-
38. A method for measuring constrictive force of a urethral sphincter comprising:
-
inserting a catheter into a bladder via the urethral sphincter; inserting a retracting cable inside the catheter into the bladder such that a plunger distal end of the retracting cable extends beyond a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter; expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter into an enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the urethral sphincter; and measuring resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of the urethral sphincter. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
-
-
41. A method for measuring weakness of a urethral sphincter comprising:
-
inserting a catheter into a bladder via the urethral sphincter, said catheter being surrounded on the outside with a disposable plastic sheath forming a surrounded catheter; expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the surrounded catheter into an enlarged configuration; and measuring resistance to withdrawal of the surrounded catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of weakness of the urethral sphincter.
-
-
42. A device for measuring constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
a catheter; a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter with an array of wings radially disposed, the array of wings being closed in a first configuration and being radially expanded in a second enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; and means for expanding the array of wings of the hollow fluted distal end into the second enlarged configuration such that subsequent withdrawal of the hollow fluted distal end in the second enlarged configuration encounters resistance which can be measured as an indication of weakness of the body lumen, wherein the means for expanding comprises a retracting cable disposed inside the catheter and a plunger distal end of the retracting cable extending beyond the hollow fluted distal end of the catheter. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45)
-
-
46. A device for measuring constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
a sterilizable catheter; a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter with an array of wings radially disposed, the array of wings being closed in a first configuration and being radially expanded in a second enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen; means for expanding the array of wings of the hollow fluted distal end into the second enlarged configuration such that subsequent withdrawal of the hollow fluted distal end in the second enlarged configuration encounters resistance for indicating constrictive force of the wall of the body lumen; and a disposable plastic sheath surrounding the outside of the device.
-
-
47. A system for measuring constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
a catheter; a means for expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter from a first configuration into a second enlarged configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen;
wherein the means for expanding comprises a retracting cable disposed inside the catheter and a plunger distal end of the retracting cable extending beyond the hollow fluted distal end of the catheter; anda means for measuring resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. A system for measuring constrictive force of a wall of a body lumen comprising:
-
a sterilizable catheter; a disposable plastic sheath surrounding the outside of the catheter, a means for expanding a hollow fluted distal end of the catheter from a first configuration where the fluted distal end contacts the wall of the body lumen into a second enlarged configuration; and a means for measuring resistance to withdrawal of the catheter in the enlarged configuration as an indicator of constrictive force of a wall of the body lumen.
-
Specification