Atraumatic gastrointestinal anchor
First Claim
1. An intraluminal implant comprising:
- an elongated anchor adapted for implanting within a natural bodily lumen, a central axis of the elongated anchor adapted for alignment with the natural bodily lumen, the elongated anchor including;
a primary anchoring region adapted to expand against the lumen;
a secondary anchoring region disposed at either side of the primary anchoring region also adapted to expand against the lumen, the primary anchoring region expanding to a greater extent than an outer end of each of the secondary anchoring regions;
a flexible, floppy elongated sleeve coupled at its proximal end to the elongated anchor, the sleeve adapted to extend distally beyond the elongated anchor within the natural bodily lumen;
the elongated anchor comprising;
a plurality of anchoring elements, at least one of the anchoring elements relating to the primary anchoring region and at least two other of the anchoring elements relating to the secondary anchoring regions, a secondary anchoring element being on each side of the primary anchoring element.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to methods and articles for anchoring within a natural bodily lumen. An anchor is adapted to provide differing radially-outward forces along its length, a securing force and a transitional force. Production of these forces can be controlled by varying a physical property of the anchor, such as its stiffness, thickness, or shape. For example, the stiffness of an elongated anchor can be varied from a relatively soft value at its proximal and distal ends to a relatively stiff value at its center by varying the diameter of wire forming the anchor, thereby tailoring it to an intended application. Such force tailoring can be combined with external barbs and used to reliably anchor other instruments, such as feeding tubes and intestinal sleeves.
404 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An intraluminal implant comprising:
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an elongated anchor adapted for implanting within a natural bodily lumen, a central axis of the elongated anchor adapted for alignment with the natural bodily lumen, the elongated anchor including; a primary anchoring region adapted to expand against the lumen; a secondary anchoring region disposed at either side of the primary anchoring region also adapted to expand against the lumen, the primary anchoring region expanding to a greater extent than an outer end of each of the secondary anchoring regions; a flexible, floppy elongated sleeve coupled at its proximal end to the elongated anchor, the sleeve adapted to extend distally beyond the elongated anchor within the natural bodily lumen; the elongated anchor comprising; a plurality of anchoring elements, at least one of the anchoring elements relating to the primary anchoring region and at least two other of the anchoring elements relating to the secondary anchoring regions, a secondary anchoring element being on each side of the primary anchoring element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for anchoring a flexible, floppy elongated sleeve within a natural bodily lumen comprising:
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providing an anchor fixed to a proximal end of the flexible, floppy elongated sleeve, the sleeve extending distally into the natural bodily lumen; providing a radially-outward securing force from the anchor acting upon a first region of the natural bodily lumen; providing a radially-outward transitional force from the anchor less than the securing force on the first region and acting upon a second region of the natural bodily lumen beside the first region of the natural bodily lumen, the radially-outward transitional force from the anchor acting on each side of the first region and being adapted to mitigate damage to the natural bodily lumen; and piercing muscular tissue of the natural bodily lumen with at least one external barb in the first region, the radially outward securing force driving the at least one barb into the muscular tissue. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An intraluminal implant comprising:
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an elongated anchor adapted for implanting within a natural bodily lumen, a central axis of the elongated anchor adapted for alignment with the natural bodily lumen, the elongated anchor including; a primary anchoring region adapted to expand against the lumen; a secondary anchoring region disposed at either side of the primary anchoring region also adapted to expand against the lumen, the primary anchoring region expanding to a greater extent than an outer end of each of the secondary anchoring regions, the primary and secondary anchoring regions comprising different spring rates; and a flexible, floppy elongated sleeve coupled at its proximal end to the elongated anchor, the sleeve adapted to extend distally beyond the elongated anchor within the natural bodily lumen.
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29. A method for anchoring a flexible, floppy elongated sleeve within a natural bodily lumen comprising:
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providing an anchor fixed to a proximal end of the flexible, floppy elongated sleeve, the sleeve extending distally into the natural bodily lumen; providing a radially-outward securing force from the anchor acting upon a first region of the natural bodily lumen, the radially outward securing force being provided by a first anchoring element; and providing a radially-outward transitional force from the anchor less than the securing force on the first region and acting upon a second region of the natural bodily lumen beside the first region of the natural bodily lumen, the radially outward transitional force being provided by a second anchoring element, the first and second anchoring elements comprising different spring rates, the radially-outward transitional force from the anchor acting on each side of the first region and being adapted to mitigate damage to the natural bodily lumen.
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Specification