Remote clot management

• US 6,254,571 B1
• Filed: 10/14/1998
• Issued: 07/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Applied Medical Resources Corporation (Applied Medical Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Applied Medical Resources Corporation (Applied Medical Corporation)
• Inventors: Hart, Charles C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Anhtuan T.
• Application Number:
  US09/171,268
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: 604/22, 604/27, 604/35, 604/48, 604/96, 604/101, 604/104-109, 604/266, 604/267, 604/264, 604/523, 604/528, 606/191, 606/192, 606/194, 606/198, 606/200, 606/159, 606/167, 606/170, 606/127, 606/128, 600/564, 600/565, 600/569, 600/570, 600/571, 600/572
• US Class Current: 604/107
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/22032 having inflatable gripping elements balloon catheters A61M25/10
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/221 Gripping devices in the form of loops or baskets for gripping calculi or similar types of obstructions surgical snare instruments A61B17/32056
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/22034 for gripping the obstruction or the tissue part from inside
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/2217 single wire changing shape to a gripping configuration
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/1052 for temporarily occluding a vessel for isolating a sector
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/109 having balloons for removing solid matters, e.g. by grasping or scraping plaque, thrombus or other matters that obstruct the flow
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/1002 characterised by balloon shape A61M25/1006, A61M25/1009 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/1011 Multiple balloon catheters

Abstract

An expandable intraluminal catheter is used for removing occlusive material from a body passage. The catheter includes a handle having both a proximal handle end and a distal handle end. Attached to the distal handle end is an elongate tubular body, which includes a proximal body end and a distal body end. The elongate tubular body further includes a lumen between the proximal body end and the distal body end. A number of expandable segments are disposed on the elongate tubular body near the distal body end. These expandable segments can be mechanically activated by a user when the distal body end is within a blood vessel, to thereby isolate and partition occlusive material within the blood vessel. The isolated and partitioned occlusive material within the blood vessel can then be removed.

Claims

1. An expandable intraluminal catheter for removing occlusive material from a body passage, comprising:

a handle;

an elongate tubular body coupled to the handle and having a lumen;

a plurality of expandable segments disposed on the elongate tubular body, the plurality of expandable segments comprising a proximal expandable segment, a distal expandable segment, and at least one intermediate expandable segment; and

an actuator connected to the expandable segments and operable from the handle to actuate the plurality of expandable segments to radially expand, the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment having a configuration different than that of the at least one intermediate expandable segment to facilitate expansion of the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment to define a zone of treatment, and subsequently to facilitate expansion of the at least one intermediate expandable segment.

2. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 1, the expandable intraluminal catheter further comprising:

a non-expandable member disposed within the lumen of the elongate tubular body, the non-expandable member having a proximal non-expandable member end and a distal non-expandable member end;

the handle having a proximal handle end and a distal handle end;

the elongate tubular body having a proximal body end, a distal body end, with the lumen extending between the proximal body end and the distal body end;

the proximal body end being connected to the distal handle end and the plurality of expandable segments being disposed on the elongate tubular body near the distal body end;

the proximal non-expandable member end being connected to the proximal handle end, and the distal non-expandable member end being connected to the distal body end, the connection of the non-expandable member between the proximal handle end and the distal body end holding the distal non-expandable member end relatively stationary with regard to the proximal handle end; and

the actuator being connected to the proximal body end to radially expand the plurality of expandable segments by moving the proximal body end toward the relatively stationary distal body end, and to radially contract the plurality of expandable segments by moving the proximal body end away from the relatively stationary distal body end.

3. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of expandable segments comprises one of a tubular woven, a tubular braided, and a tubular meshed material, and

wherein apertures are formed on each of the plurality of expandable segments, upon expansion of the segments by the actuator, to thereby allow for application of one of a pressure and a suction through both the lumen and the apertures.

4. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 3, wherein each of the proximal expandable segment and the distal expandable segment comprises a coating of non-permeable dispersion coating.

5. The expandable intraluminal catheter recited in claim 1 wherein the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment have a first diameter in an expanded state, and the at least one intermediate expandable segment has a second diameter less than the first diameter in the expandable state, to facilitate expansion of the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment prior to expansion of the at least one intermediate expandable segment.

6. An expandable intraluminal catheter for removing occlusive material from a body passage, comprising:

an elongate tubular body having a length extending between a proximal body end and a distal body end;

a plurality of expandable segments disposed on the elongate tubular body near the distal body end, the plurality of expandable segments comprising a proximal expandable segment, a distal expandable segment, and at least one intermediate expandable segment;

an actuator having a generally fixed position with respect to one of the proximal body end and the distal body end, and being operable from the generally fixed position to move the other of the proximal body end and the distal body end to alternatively increase and decrease the length of the elongate tubular body; and

the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment having a configuration facilitating expansion of the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment prior to expansion of the at least one intermediate expandable segment.

7. The expandable intraluminal catheter recited in claim 6 wherein the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment have a first diameter in an expanded state, and the at least one intermediate expandable segment has a second diameter less than the first diameter in the expandable state, to facilitate expansion of the distal expandable segment and the proximal expandable segment prior to expansion of the at least one intermediate expandable segment.

10. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 7, further comprising a plurality of non-expandable segments, the distal expandable segment, the at least one intermediate expandable segment, and the proximal expandable segment being separated by a corresponding plurality of non-expandable segments, each of the plurality of non-expandable segments being disposed adjacent to at least one of the expandable segments on the elongate tubular body.

11. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 10, further comprising an actuator coupled to the elongate tubular body and operable to vary the length of the elongate tubular body to actuate the expandable segments and thereby cause, by means other than inflation, the expandable segments to radially expand into semi-rigid enlarged-diameter segments by decreasing the length of the elongate tubular body and to radially contract the semi-rigid enlarged-diameter segments by increasing the length of the elongate tubular body.

12. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 11, wherein:

a length of the first expandable segment, a length of the second expandable segment, and a length of the third expandable segment are attenuated as the expandable segments radially expand, and

the lengths of the non-expandable segments are not attenuated as the expandable segments radially expand.

13. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 11, wherein the expandable segments and the corresponding non-expandable segments are integrally formed with the exterior surface of the elongate tubular body, each expandable segment being joined to an adjacent non-expandable segment at a bendable joint.

14. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 13, wherein:

each of the plurality of expandable segments comprising an expandable, plastic, tubular braid; and

each of the corresponding plurality of non-expandable segments comprising a semi-rigid plastic tubing.

15. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the proximal expandable segment comprises a coating of non-permeable dispersion material; and

the distal expandable segment comprises a coating of non-permeable dispersion material.

16. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

a handle having a proximal handle end and a distal handle end; and

a wire coupled to the handle and the elongate tubular body for maintaining the distal body end and the proximal handle end in a generally fixed relationship.

17. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 16, wherein:

the elongate tubular body has a lumen along the length of the elongate tubular body, the lumen accommodating the wire; and

the actuator is connected to the proximal body end, the actuator actuating the expandable segments to radially expand by moving the proximal body end toward the distal body end, the actuator actuating the plurality of expandable segments to radially contract by moving the proximal elongate tubular end away from the distal body end, while the wire maintains a constant distance between the proximal handle end and distal body end.

18. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 7, wherein apertures are formed on the at least one intermediate expandable segment, upon expansion of the at least one intermediate expandable segment, to thereby allow for application of one of a pressure and a suction to the apertures, and wherein one of a pressure and a suction can be applied to the apertures through the elongate tubular body.

19. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 18, further comprising a handle coupled to the elongate tubular body and having a port in the handle comprising a luer type locking hub that is adapted to allow fluid to be inserted into the elongate tubular body and to be excreted through the apertures, the luer type locking hub further being adapted to allow fluid to be drawn through the apertures and out of the elongate tubular body.

20. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

an expandable distal member, located on the elongate tubular member between the distal body end and the expandable segments; and

a non-expandable member disposed within the elongate tubular body and having a distal non-expandable member end which is connected to the distal body end, the non-expandable member being coupled to the actuator and cooperating with the actuator to vary the length of the tubular member.

21. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 20, wherein the expandable distal member comprises an elastomeric foam, which, when expanded by the non-expandable member, is deformable from an elongated shape into a generally spherical shape.

22. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 20, wherein the expandable distal member comprises an inflatable balloon, which, when inflated, is deformable from an elongated shape into a generally spherical shape.

8. An expandable intraluminal catheter for removing occlusive material from a body passage, comprising:

an elongate tubular body having a proximal body end, a distal body end, and a variable length between the proximal body end and the distal body end;

a distal expandable segment disposed on the elongate tubular body near the distal body end, the distal expandable segment having a first length in a non-expanded state;

at least one intermediate expandable segment disposed on the elongate tubular body proximally of the distal expandable segment, the at least one intermediate expandable segment having a second length in a non-expanded state; and

a proximal expandable segment disposed on the elongate tubular body proximally of the intermediate expandable segment, the proximal expandable segment having a third length in a non-expanded state, the first length being greater than the second length, and the third length being greater than the second length.

9. The expandable intraluminal catheter as recited in claim 8, wherein:

the proximal expandable comprises a coating of non-permeable dispersion material, and

the distal expandable segment comprises a coating of non-permeable dispersion material.