Apparatus and method for sensor deployment and fixation

• US 8,118,749 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2005
• Issued: 02/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings Ii S.A.R.L.
• Original Assignee: CardioMEMS Incorporated
• Inventors: White, Jason, Tumlin, Kelly
• Primary Examiner(s): Mallari, Patricia
• Assistant Examiner(s): D'ANGELO, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US11/232,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20060200031A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,343 Days
• Field of Search: 600485-486
• US Class Current: 600/486
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0215 by means inserted into the body catheters A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/03 Detecting, measuring or recording fluid pressure within the body other than blood pressure, e.g. cerebral pressure; Measuring pressure in body tissues or organs A61B5/205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/076 Permanent implantations telemetry using implanted circuitry A61B5/0031; implanted stimulators for therapy A61N1/3605, A61N1/362, A61N1/372
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6882 Anchoring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/82 Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents stent-grafts for tubular structures of the body other than blood vessels A61F2/04; stent-grafts for blood vessels A61F2/07; instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts A61F2/95; for closing wounds, or holding wounds closed A61B17/04 - A61B17/115; dilators A61M29/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/848 having means for fixation to the vessel wall, e.g. barbs
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/95 Instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/9522 Means for mounting a stent or stent-graft onto or into a placement instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 the retaining means being filaments or wires
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2250/0002 for data transfer

Abstract

An implant assembly is implanted in vivo within a vascular system in which a vessel divides at a furcation into two sub-vessels, each sub-vessel having a diameter smaller than the diameter of said vessel. An implant assembly is released into a vessel such as a pulmonary arterial vessel of a patient. The implant assembly has a diameter smaller than or substantially equal to the inner diameter of the vessel and larger than the inner diameter of each of the sub-vessels. The implant assembly is configured so that it moves downstream within the vessel along with the flow of blood. When the implant assembly reaches a furcation where the vessel divides, the implant assembly is too large and not sufficiently compliant to fit through either of the smaller branch vessels. The implant assembly thus lodges at the furcation, prevented from moving downstream by being too large and stiff to fit into the branch vessels, and prevented from moving upstream by the flow of blood through the arteries. Alternatively, the implant assembly has a diameter greater than a vessel and compliance characteristics such that, upon release, the implant assembly travels down a narrowing vessel until an interference fit is created between the anchor structure and the vessel wall, thereby preventing further distal movement.

Claims

1. An in vivo implant assembly for deployment within a vessel, the vessel having an inner diameter, comprising:

an intracorporeal device body having a first end and a second opposing end, said intracorporeal device body further having a longitudinal axis and a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the vessel into which said implant assembly is intended to be positioned; and

a means for passively creating an interference fit between the in vivo implant assembly and the inner diameter of the vessel, comprising;

a longitudinal anchor structure, wherein a proximate end portion of said longitudinal anchor structure is positionally fixed relative to a top surface of said intracorporeal device, wherein a distal end portion of said longitudinal anchor structure extends distally outwardly therefrom the proximate end portion of said longitudinal anchor structure and a respective end of said intracorporeal device body to form a loop that is positioned in an operative plane that is parallel to said longitudinal axis of said intracorporeal device body when said longitudinal anchor structure is in a deployed position, wherein the distal-most end of the distal end portion forms a continuously curved tip, wherein said overall longitudinal length of said intracorporeal device body and said longitudinal anchor structure is greater than the inner diameter of said vessel, wherein at least a portion of said longitudinal anchor structure has a diameter that is at least as large as the inner diameter of the vessel into which said implant assembly is intended to be operatively located, and wherein the intracorporeal device body is adapted to be permanently fixed relative to the position of the created interference fit within the vessel.

2. The implant assembly of claim 1, wherein said longitudinal anchor structure comprises a first wire loop extending longitudinally from the first end of said intracorporeal device body.

3. The implant assembly of claim 2, wherein said longitudinal anchor structure further comprises a second wire loop extending longitudinally from the second end of said intracorporeal device body.

4. The implant assembly of claim 1, wherein said longitudinal anchor structure is sufficiently stiff to prevent downstream movement of the in vivo implant assembly after the interference fit is created.

5. The implant assembly of claim 4, wherein said in vivo implant assembly obstructs less that 50% of the cross-sectional area of the inner diameter of the vessel into which said implant assembly is positioned after the interference fit is created.

6. The implant assembly of claim 5, wherein the vessel is a human pulmonary arterial vessel.

7. The implant assembly of claim 1, further comprising means for preventing substantial rotation of the implant assembly about an axis of rotation perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of said vessel.

8. The implant assembly of claim 7, wherein said overall longitudinal length of said intracorporeal device body and said longitudinal anchor structure is at least two times the inner diameter of the a vessel into which said implant assembly is intended to be operatively located.

9. The implant assembly of claim 8, wherein said overall longitudinal length of said intracorporeal device body and said longitudinal anchor structure is less than about approximately five times the inner diameter of the a vessel into which said implant assembly is intended to be operatively located.

10. An in vivo implant assembly for deployment within a vessel, the vessel having an inner diameter, comprising:

an intracorporeal device body having a first end and a second opposing end, the intracorporeal device body further having a longitudinal axis and a body diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the vessel into which the implant assembly is intended to be deployed; and

a means for passively creating an interference fit between the in vivo implant assembly and the inner diameter of the vessel, comprising;

a longitudinal anchor structure, wherein a proximate end portion of the longitudinal anchor structure is positionally fixed relative to a top surface of the intracorporeal device, wherein the longitudinal anchor structure extends distally outwardly longitudinally from the proximate end portion of the longitudinal anchor to foam a loop that is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the intracorporeal device body and has a continuously curved tip at the distal-most end of the longitudinal anchor structure, wherein the longitudinal length of the longitudinal anchor structure is greater than the body diameter, wherein at least a portion of the longitudinal anchor structure has a diameter that is at least as large as the inner diameter of the vessel into which the implant assembly is intended to be deployed, and wherein the intracorporeal device body is adapted to be permanently fixed relative to the position of the created interference fit within the vessel.

11. An in vivo implant assembly for deployment within a patient, the patient having a deployment vessel into which the implant assembly is deployed having a deployment inner diameter, and a downstream operative vessel into which the implant assembly is intended to be operatively located having a smaller operative inner diameter, the implant assembly comprising:

an intracorporeal device body having a first end and a second opposing end, a longitudinal axis and a diameter smaller than the deployment inner diameter; and

a longitudinal anchor structure anchored to at least one end of the intracorporeal device body, wherein the longitudinal anchor structure extends distally outwardly longitudinally from the proximate end portion of the longitudinal anchor, wherein the overall longitudinal length of the intracorporeal device body and the longitudinal anchor structure is greater than the deployment inner diameter to form a loop that is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the intracorporeal device body and has a continuously curved tip at the distal-most end of the longitudinal anchor structure that is configured to resiliently contact and form an interference fit with a portion of a wall of the operative vessel, wherein at least a portion of the longitudinal anchor structure has a diameter that is at least as large as the operative inner diameter, wherein the operative inner diameter is less than the deployment inner diameter, and wherein the intracorporeal device body is adapted to be permanently fixed relative to the position of the created interference fit within the vessel.

12. An in vivo implant assembly for deployment within a vessel, the vessel having an inner diameter, comprising:

an intracorporeal device body having a first end and a second opposing end, the intracorporeal device body further having a longitudinal axis and a body diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the vessel into which the implant assembly is intended to be deployed; and

a means for passively creating an interference fit between the in vivo implant assembly and the inner diameter of the vessel, comprising;

a longitudinal anchor structure configured to extend distally outwardly longitudinally from the first or second end of the intracorporeal device body and having a continuously curved tip at the distal-most end of the longitudinal anchor structure, wherein the longitudinal length of the longitudinal anchor structure is greater than the body diameter, wherein at least a portion of the longitudinal anchor structure has a diameter that is at least as large as the inner diameter of the vessel into which the implant assembly is intended to be deployed, and wherein the intracorporeal device body is adapted to be permanently fixed relative to the position of the created interference fit within the vessel.