Steerable catheter with in-plane deflection
First Claim
1. A steerable catheter comprising:
- an elongated, flexible tubular catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending therethrough;
a tip section at the distal end of the catheter body, the tip section comprising a flexible plastic tubing having a pair of diametrically-opposed lumens extending therethrough;
a control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body;
first and second puller wires, each extending through one of the pair of lumens in the tip section and through the lumen of the catheter body, each having a proximal end anchored to the control handle and a distal end anchored to the tip section, whereby the puller wires are longitudinally moveable relative to the catheter body to cause deflection of the tip section; and
an elongated deflection mechanism extending in the tip section without contacting the first and second puller wires, the deflection mechanism comprising a plurality of deflection members and having a first centroidal axis and a second centroidal axis and configured as such to define a lesser area moment of inertia about the first centroidal axis and a greater area moment of inertia about the second centroidal axis for providing the tip section with in-plane deflection, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved steerable catheter with in-plane deflection comprises a catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending therethrough and a tip section at the distal end of the catheter body. The tip section comprises a flexible plastic tubing having a pair of diametrically-opposed lumens extending therethrough. The catheter also provides two puller wires manipulated through a control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body. Each puller wire extends through one of the pair of lumens in the tip section and through the lumen of the catheter body and is anchored to the control handle at its proximal end and anchored to the tip section at its distal end. The deflection mechanism is configured to generally define a plane along which deflection most readily occurs and an edge along which deflection is most readily avoided. The deflection mechanism extends longitudinally along a centerline of the tip section between the first and second puller wire and is configured generally with a cross section having a thinner dimension and a thicker dimension to bias the tip section to deflect in a plane parallel with the thinner dimension of the deflection mechanism and to resist deflection in a plane perpendicular to thicker dimension.
101 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A steerable catheter comprising:
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an elongated, flexible tubular catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending therethrough; a tip section at the distal end of the catheter body, the tip section comprising a flexible plastic tubing having a pair of diametrically-opposed lumens extending therethrough; a control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body; first and second puller wires, each extending through one of the pair of lumens in the tip section and through the lumen of the catheter body, each having a proximal end anchored to the control handle and a distal end anchored to the tip section, whereby the puller wires are longitudinally moveable relative to the catheter body to cause deflection of the tip section; and an elongated deflection mechanism extending in the tip section without contacting the first and second puller wires, the deflection mechanism comprising a plurality of deflection members and having a first centroidal axis and a second centroidal axis and configured as such to define a lesser area moment of inertia about the first centroidal axis and a greater area moment of inertia about the second centroidal axis for providing the tip section with in-plane deflection, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A steerable catheter comprising:
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an elongated, flexible tubular catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending therethrough; a tip section at the distal end of the catheter body, the tip section comprising a flexible plastic tubing having a pair of diametrically-opposed lumens extending therethrough; a control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body; first and second puller wires, each extending through one of the pair of lumens in the tip section and through the lumen of the catheter body, each having a proximal end anchored to the control handle and a distal end anchored to the tip section, whereby the puller wires are longitudinally moveable relative to the catheter body to cause deflection of the tip section; and a deflection mechanism generally extending longitudinally along a centerline of the tip section and situated between the first and second puller wires without contacting the first and second puller wires, the deflection mechanism comprising a plurality of deflection members and having a thicker dimension and a thinner dimension so as to bias the tip section to deflect in a plane parallel with the thinner dimension and resist deflection in a plane parallel with the thicker dimension, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A steerable catheter comprising:
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an elongated, flexible tubular catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending therethrough; a tip section at the distal end of the catheter body, the tip section comprising a flexible plastic tubing having a pair of diametrically-opposed lumens extending therethrough; a control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body; first and second puller wires, each extending through a different one of the pair of lumens of the tip section and through the lumen of the catheter body, each having a proximal end anchored to the control handle and a distal end anchored to the tip section, whereby the first and second puller wires are longitudinally moveable relative to the catheter body to cause deflection of the tip section; and a deflection mechanism extending in the tip section without contacting the first and second puller wires, the deflection mechanism comprising a plurality of deflection members and having a lesser surface area along a first axis and a greater surface area along a second axis, wherein the deflection mechanism biases the tip section to deflect in a plane generally orthogonal to the greater surface area along the second axis, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A deflection mechanism in a catheter with a tip section deflectable by two puller wires, comprising:
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an array of a plurality of elongated deflection members extending longitudinally in the tip section generally between the two puller wires without contacting the two puller wires, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members in the array has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members, the array comprising; a cross section comprising; a width in a first dimension; a thinness in a second dimension; a first centroidal axis parallel to the first dimension; a second centroidal axis parallel to the second dimension; a lesser area moment of inertia about the second centroidal axis; and a greater area moment of inertia about the first centroidal axis, wherein the deflection mechanism biases the tip section to deflect in a plane generally parallel with the second dimension.
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35. A deflection mechanism in a catheter with a tip section deflectable by two puller wires, comprising:
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an array of a plurality of elongated deflection members extending longitudinally in the tip section generally between the two puller wires without contacting the two puller wires, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members in the array has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members, the array comprising; a cross section comprising; a width in a first dimension; a thinness in a second dimension; a first centroidal axis parallel to the first dimension; a second centroidal axis parallel to the second dimension; a lesser area moment of inertia about the second centroidal axis; and a greater area moment of inertia about the first centroidal axis, wherein the deflection mechanism biases the tip section to deflect in a plane generally perpendicular to the first dimension.
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36. A deflection mechanism in a catheter with a tip section deflectable by two puller wires, comprising:
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an array of a plurality of elongated deflection members extending longitudinally in the tip section generally between the two puller wires without contacting the two puller wires, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members in the array has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members, the array comprising; a cross section comprising; a width in a first dimension; a thinness in a second dimension; a first centroidal axis parallel to the first dimension; a second centroidal axis parallel to the second dimension; a lesser area moment of inertia about the second centroidal axis; and a greater area moment of inertia about the first centroidal axis, wherein the deflection mechanism biases the tip section to deflect in a plane generally parallel with the second centroidal axis.
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37. A deflection mechanism in a catheter with a tip section deflectable by two puller wires, comprising:
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an array of a plurality of elongated deflection members extending longitudinally in the tip section generally between the two puller wires without contacting the two puller wires, wherein at least one of the plurality of deflection members in the array has a distal end anchored in a location different than an anchor location of a distal end of another of the plurality of deflection members, the array comprising; a cross section comprising; a width in a first dimension; a thinness in a second dimension; a first centroidal axis parallel to the first dimension; a second centroidal axis parallel to the second dimension; a lesser area moment of inertia about the second centroidal axis; and a greater area moment of inertia about the first centroidal axis, wherein the deflection mechanism biases the tip section to deflect in a plane generally perpendicular with the first centroidal axis.
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Specification