Sheath retractor mechanism and method
First Claim
1. A method for particularly retracting a protective sheath from a portion of an elongate member inserted through the sheath, comprising the following steps:
- a) activating a drive structure to simultaneously couple said drive structure to said sheath and drive translation of said coupled sheath relative to said elongate member to expose a portion thereof covered by said sheath prior to said translation; and
b) repeating step a) to further translate said sheath and expose a further portion of said elongate member, in order to produce sequentially extended exposure of said elongate member by the repetitive sheath translations.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An actuating mechanism and method for sequentially translating a sheath member relative to an elongate member such as a balloon catheter movably inserted through the sheath includes a coupling structure constructed to enable selectively coupling or uncoupling of a drive member to the sheath member in order to drive translation of the coupled sheath member in one or more translation increments and to enable uncoupling of the drive member following each of said increments of retraction. In a particularly beneficial method of sheath retraction from a portion of an angioplasty balloon catheter on which a stent is mounted, the method includes coupling a drive structure to the sheath and driving translation of the coupled sheath relative to the catheter to expose the stent-mounted portion of the catheter, and then repeating the translational drive of the coupled sheath to further translate the sheath and expose a further incremental portion of the catheter, in order to produce sequential one-way movement of the sheath in controlled increments to attain exposure of the balloon catheter and the stent mounted thereon without disturbing its position.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for particularly retracting a protective sheath from a portion of an elongate member inserted through the sheath, comprising the following steps:
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a) activating a drive structure to simultaneously couple said drive structure to said sheath and drive translation of said coupled sheath relative to said elongate member to expose a portion thereof covered by said sheath prior to said translation; and b) repeating step a) to further translate said sheath and expose a further portion of said elongate member, in order to produce sequentially extended exposure of said elongate member by the repetitive sheath translations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for particularly retracting a protective sheath from a portion of an elongate member movably inserted through the sheath, comprising the following steps:
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a) coupling a drive structure to said sheath; b) driving translation of said sheath relative to said elongate member to expose a portion thereof covered by said sheath prior to said driving; c) uncoupling said drive structure from said sheath; d) reversely translating said drive structure in a direction opposite to translation in step (b); e) recoupling said drive structure to said sheath; and f) repeating step (b) to further translate said sheath and expose a further portion of said elongate member, in order to produce sequentially extended exposure of said elongate member by the repetitive sheath translations.
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10. An actuating mechanism for translating a sheath member relative to an elongate member inserted through the sheath member, comprising:
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a drive structure; a coupling structure coupleable to said sheath member and constructed to enable selective coupling of the coupling structure to said drive structure in order to drive translation of the coupled sheath member in one or more translation increments and to enable selective uncoupling of the drive structure from said coupling structure following each said translation increment. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An actuating instrument for particular use in retracting a protective sheath member relative to a catheter movably inserted through the sheath member, said instrument comprising:
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a support structure connectable to said sheath member to support said retraction thereof; a drive member arranged to propel retraction of said support structure to enable the retraction of the sheath member therewith; and a coupling structure affixed to said support structure and constructed to enable selective coupling of said coupling structure to said drive member in order to drive said retraction in one or more retraction increments and to enable selective uncoupling of said coupling structure from said drive member following each of said retraction increments. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for particularly retracting a protective sheath from a portion of an elongate member, comprising the following steps:
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a) coupling a drive structure to said sheath; b) activating said drive structure to drive translation of said coupled sheath relative to said elongate member to expose a portion thereof covered by said sheath prior to said translation; c) uncoupling said drive structure from said sheath; and d) repeating step (b) to further translate said sheath and expose a further portion of said elongate member, in order to produce sequentially extended exposure of said elongate member by the repetitive sheath translations.
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39. A method for particularly retracting a protective sheath from a portion of an elongate member, comprising the following steps:
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a) coupling a drive structure to said sheath; b) translating said drive structure coupled to said sheath to drive translation of said coupled sheath relative to said elongate member to expose a portion thereof covered by said sheath prior to said translation; and c) uncoupling said drive structure from said sheath in order to ensure only one-way retracting motion of said sheath; d) reversely translating said drive structure in a direction opposite to said translating in step (b); e) recoupling said drive structure to said sheath; and f) repeating step (b) to further translate said sheath and expose a further portion of said elongate member, in order to produce sequentially extended exposure of said elongate member by the repetitive sheath translations.
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40. A method for particularly retracting a protective sheath from a portion of an elongate member comprising the following steps:
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a) engaging respective frictionally adhering surfaces of a drive structure and a coupling structure secured to said sheath to couple said drive structure to said sheath; b) activating said drive structure to drive translation of said coupled sheath relative to said elongate member to expose a portion thereof covered by said sheath prior to said translation; c) reversely translating said drive structure in a direction opposite to said translating in step (b) while sliding said drive structure surface against said coupling structure surface to prevent reversely translating said sheath with said drive structure; and d) repeating step (b) to further translate said sheath and expose a further portion of said elongate member, in order to produce sequentially extended exposure of said elongate member by the repetitive sheath translations. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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Specification