Appliance to be implanted, method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted and method of using the appliance to be implanted

• US 6,254,629 B1
• Filed: 07/23/1999
• Issued: 07/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kanji Inoue
• Original Assignee: Kanji Inoue
• Inventors: Inoue, Kanji
• Primary Examiner(s): WEHNER, CARY ELLEN
• Application Number:
  US09/359,138
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 623/1.15, 623/1-2-, 623/1-8-, 623/1-1-, 623/1.13, 623/1.23
• US Class Current: 623/1.13
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/07 Stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/86 Stents in a form characterised by the wire-like elements; Stents in the form characterised by a net-like or mesh-like structure
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/89 the wire-like elements comprising two or more adjacent rings flexibly connected by separate members
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/9522 Means for mounting a stent or stent-graft onto or into a placement instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/9525 using a funnel
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/954 for placing stents or stent-grafts in a bifurcation
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/97 the outer sleeve being splittable
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/065 Y-shaped blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/072 Encapsulated stents, e.g. wire or whole stent embedded in lining
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/075 the stent being loosely attached to the graft material, e.g. by stitching
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9505 having retaining means other than an outer sleeve, e.g. male-female connector between stent and instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 the retaining means being filaments or wires
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/903 Blood vessel

Abstract

The artificial blood vessel A comprises a front end wire ring 10₁, a rear end wire ring 10₂ arranged facing to the front end wire ring 10₁, a tubular cover 7 which connects the end wire rings 10₁, 10₂, and a plurality of intermediate wire rings 12 arranged spaced apart from each other between the front end wire ring 10₁ and the rear end wire ring 10₂. Each of the front end wire ring 10₁, the rear end wire ring 10₂ and the intermediate wire rings 12 are given flexibly foldable elasticity. The circumference of the front end wire ring 10₁ is equally divided into four by dividing points 41₁, 42₁, 43₁, 44₁. Hooking means 13 are formed for a front pull string to be passed through at the dividing points 41₁, 43₁. The circumference of the intermediate wire ring 12 is fixed to the tubular cover 7 by suturing or with adhesive at the positions 51₃, 52₃, 53₃, 54₃ which correspond to the midpoint 51₁ between the dividing points 41₁, 42₁, the midpoint 52₁ between the dividing points 42₁, 43₁, the midpoint 53₁ between the dividing points 43₁, 44₁, and the midpoint 54₁ between the dividing points 44₁, 41₁.

Claims

1. An appliance to be implanted, comprising a front end wire ring, a rear end wire ring arranged facing to said front end wire ring, a tubular cover which connects said front end wire ring and said rear end wire ring, and a plurality of intermediate wire rings spaced apart from each other between the front end wire ring and the rear end wire ring, in which each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, wherein each of said front end, rear end, and intermediate wire rings has an arrangement in which it can be folded into a wavy shape having a same phase and forming forwardly directed peaks and bottoms of forwardly directed valleys alternatively and continuously, wherein the circumference of each intermediate wire ring is fixed to the tubular cover by suturing or with adhesive at respective positions, each respective position corresponding to a midpoint between a forwardly directed peak and a bottom of the adjacent forwardly directed valley.

2. The appliance to be implanted described in claim 1, wherein a single rear end wire ring is arranged to face to a single front end wire ring.

3. The appliance to be implanted described in claim 1, wherein a pair of parallely arranged rear end wire rings are arranged to face to a single front end wire ring, and that a bifurcated tubular cover connects the front end wire ring and two rear end wire rings forming a Y-shape.

4. The appliance to be implanted described in claim 1, wherein each of the front and rear end wire rings is circumferentially covered with elastic protective material.

5. The appliance to be implanted described in claim 1, wherein thorns are provided on the circumference of at least one of said intermediate wire rings so as to stick into a human organ to be embedded therein.

6. The appliance to be implanted described in claim 1, wherein a pole is provided to connect at least two adjacent intermediate wire rings.

7. A method of collapsing an appliance to be implanted, comprising a front end wire ring, a rear end wire ring arranged facing to the front end wire ring, a tubular cover which connects the front end wire ring and the rear end wire ring, and a plurality of intermediate wire rings spaced apart from each other between the front end wire ring and the rear end wire ring, in which each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, wherein each of the front end, rear end, and intermediate wire rings has an arrangement in which it can be folded into a wavy shape having a same phase and forming forwardly directed peaks and bottoms of forwardly directed valleys alternatively and continuously, and wherein the circumference of each intermediate wire ring is fixed to the tubular cover by suturing or with adhesive at respective positions, each respective position corresponding to a midpoint between a forwardly directed peak and a bottom of the adjacent forwardly directed valley, the method comprising steps of:

folding said front-end wire ring into a wavy shape forming forwardly directed peaks and bottoms of forwardly directed valleys alternatively and continuously,

folding the intermediate wire rings and the rear end wire ring each into a wavy shape having the same phase as that of the front end wire ring; and

inserting the whole appliance to be implanted into a catheter.

8. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted described in claim 7, wherein the whole appliance to be implanted is gripped by forceps along a generatrix which passes the forwardly directed peak;

and

the appliance to be implanted is inserted together with the forceps into a funneled tube, from a large portion of the funneled tube to a small portion thereof, and the forceps are pulled out of the funneled tube if each of a number of the forwardly directed peaks and a number of the bottoms of the forwardly directed valleys is two.

9. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted described in claim 8, wherein the forceps are provided with a serrated engaging member which lessens a sliding resistance between the appliance to be implanted and the forceps in a direction of pulling the appliance out of the forceps as compared to a direction of inserting the appliance into the forceps.

10. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted described in claim 7, wherein the appliance is collapsed into a small size by inserting it into a funneled tube from a large portion of the funneled tube toward a small portion thereof, and wherein the appliance has, prior to entering the funneled tube, been contained in a pipe member having a diameter which is larger than that of the small portion of the funneled tube, and smaller than that of the large portion of the funneled tube.