Medical graft connector or plug structures, and methods of making and installing same
First Claim
1. An anastomotic connector for attaching two blood vessels, comprising:
- a cylinder-like portion defining a lumen, having two ends and comprising a mesh wherein a cross-section of said lumen variable along said lumen; and
a tissue engaging portion comprising at least one set of fingers arranged adjacent each of the two ends of said cylinder-like portion.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A medical graft connector or plug is made, for example, by cutting end portions of a tube of highly elastic material axially at numerous locations spaced circumferentially around the tube to produce a plurality of fingers which extend axially from each end of an uncut medial portion of the tube. The fingers are deflected radially outwardly from the medial portion and set in that condition. For a graft connector, the medial portion is coaxially connected to an end portion of a tubular graft. The connector is then installed through an aperture in the side wall of a patient'"'"'s tubular body conduit, for example, by using a delivery tube in which the fingers are elastically deflected back to approximately their initial positions. When the delivery conduit is withdrawn from the connector, the fingers spring out to engage the inner and outer surfaces of the body conduit wall. For a plug, the medial portion is occluded and then the structure is installed through the aperture to be plugged in a manner similar to installation of the connector.
152 Citations
39 Claims
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1. An anastomotic connector for attaching two blood vessels, comprising:
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a cylinder-like portion defining a lumen, having two ends and comprising a mesh wherein a cross-section of said lumen variable along said lumen; and a tissue engaging portion comprising at least one set of fingers arranged adjacent each of the two ends of said cylinder-like portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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3. An anastomotic connector for attaching two blood vessels, comprising:
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a cylinder-like portion defining a lumen, wherein a cross-section of said lumen variable along said lumen; and a plurality of tissue engaging portions for engaging two blood vessels, said plurality comprising at least one finger, wherein radial expansion of said cylinder-like portion causes said at least one finger to engage tissue, wherein said cylinder-like portion comprises a mesh.
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17. An anastomotic connector for attaching two blood vessels, comprising:
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a radially expandable cylinder-like portion defining a lumen, wherein a cross-section of said lumen variable along said lumen; a plurality of tissue engaging portions for engaging two blood vessels, wherein said cylinder-like portion comprises a mesh and said plurality of tissue engaging portions comprises a plurality of fingers extending from each of two ends of said cylinder-like portion.
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Specification