Implantable flow connector

• US 8,366,651 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2008
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bioconnect Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Bioconnect Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Dakin, Adam, Dugery, Michael, Polk, Todd, Briganti, Richard, Paris, Michael, Gately, Nicholas, Win, Zaw N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiest, Philip R
• Application Number:
  US12/185,811
• Publication Number:
  US 20090036817A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,646 Days
• Field of Search: 604 8- 10, 604/96.01, 604174-175, 604/264, 623/1.3, 623/1.31, 623/1.36, 623/23.64, 606/153
• US Class Current: 604/8
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/11 for performing anastomosis; Buttons for anastomosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/12009 Implements for ligaturing other than by clamps or clips, e.g. using a loop with a slip knot
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/1107 for blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/1135 End-to-side connections, e.g. T- or Y-connections
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 27/002 Implant devices for drainage of body fluids from one part of the body to another intraocular A61F9/00781; middle ear A61F11/202
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 39/10 Tube connectors; Tube couplings A61M39/02 takes precedence; connecting needles to syringes or hubs A61M5/34; connecting catheter tubes to hubs A61M25/0014

Abstract

An implantable flow connector for fluidically coupling a source tissue-enclosed body space with a destination element, comprising: a conduit having a lumen terminating at an orifice at a first end of the conduit implantable in the source body space through an opening formed in a tissue wall of the source body space, and a second end of the conduit implantable in the destination element through an opening in a surface of the destination element; and a circumferential flange, radially extending from the conduit proximate the conduit first end, configured to be implanted in the source body space adjacent an opening in the tissue wall of the source body space such that the conduit extends through the opening, the flange comprising one or more circumferentially adjacent sections at least one of which has a rigidity that decreases in a radially-increasing direction.

Claims

1. An implantable flow connector for fluidically coupling a source tissue-enclosed body space with a destination conduit, comprising:

a conduit having a lumen having a first diameter and terminating at a first orifice at a first end of the conduit implantable in the source body space through an opening formed in a tissue wall of the source body space, and a second end of the conduit, comprising a second orifice having a second diameter, and implantable in the destination conduit through an opening at an end of the destination conduit;

a circumferential flange, radially extending from the conduit proximate the conduit first end, configured to be implanted in the source body space adjacent the opening in the tissue wall of the source body space such that the conduit extends through the opening, the flange including first and second longitudinal sections extending on first and second opposing sides of the conduit and first and second lateral sections extending on third and fourth opposing sides of the conduit, the longitudinal and lateral sections each having an inner section closer to the conduit and an outer section positioned radially outward from the inner section and further from the conduit than the inner section, wherein adjacent lateral and longitudinal sections are contiguous along the outer sections, and wherein the outer sections are more flexible than the inner sections; and

one or more cutout regions disposed on said flange between the lateral and longitudinal sections and configured to promote folding of said flange to facilitate insertion through the opening.

2. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein said inner surface of said conduit is smooth.

3. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein said conduit further comprises one or more bends.

4. The implantable flow connector of claim 3, wherein a first portion of said conduit before at least one bend and a second portion of said conduit after the bend are aligned at approximately 120°

between said first and second portions.

5. The implantable flow connector of claim 3, wherein a first portion of said conduit before a first bend has a longitudinal axis that is coincident with a longitudinal axis of a second portion of said conduit after that first bend.

6. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the second end of said conduit is beveled.

7. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the outside diameter of said conduit at said first and second ends are substantially equal, and further wherein the wall thickness of said conduit decreases along its distally-extending longitudinal axis.

8. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the outside diameter of said conduit increases from its first end to its second end, and further wherein the wall thickness of said conduit remains constant from said first end to its second end.

9. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the conduit is configured to be resiliently flexible.

10. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein said conduit and flange are each manufactured separately of one another and subsequently joined together.

11. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein said lumen has a substantially circular cross-section.

12. The flow connector of claim 1, wherein said destination conduit is a destination tissue-enclosed body space.

13. The flow connector of claim 12, wherein the opening in the destination body space is an artificial opening in a tissue wall of the destination body conduit.

14. The flow connector of claim 12, wherein the artificial opening is an orifice at a severed end of the destination body conduit.

15. The flow connector of claim 12, wherein said flow connector conduit has an outside diameter that is substantially the same as an inside diameter of a region of said destination body conduit into which the flow connector conduit is implanted.

16. The flow connector of claim 1, wherein said destination conduit is a portion of a medical device.

17. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, further comprising:

four cutout regions disposed on said flange and configured to promote folding of said flange to facilitate insertion through the opening.

18. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the circumferential flange includes a reinforcement region located on a side of the flange facing the conduit, the reinforcement region having a rigidity that opposes deflection forces such that the reinforcement region is less prone to flexing than other portions of the circumferential flange.

19. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the lateral sections of the circumferential flange are configured to extend around the longitudinal axis of the source body space and configured to cooperate with the walls of the body space such that the flange sealingly conforms to the inner surface of the tissue wall adjacent the opening in the body space.

20. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein a length of a portion of the circumferential flange on one side of the conduit is longer than a corresponding length of another portion of the circumferential flange on an opposite side of the conduit.

21. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the outer sections comprise a sealing region disposed over a portion of the one more cutout regions.

22. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the first longitudinal section has a first length and the second longitudinal section has a second length greater than the first length.

23. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the second longitudinal section forms a heel of the flange and has a pointed apex.

24. The implantable flow connector of claim 23, wherein the first longitudinal section forms a toe having a rounded apex.

25. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the inner sections comprise a reinforcement region located on a side of the flange facing the conduit, the reinforcement region increasing the rigidity of the flange.

26. The implantable flow connector of claim 25, wherein the reinforcement region has a perimeter extending around the conduit.

27. The implantable flow connector of claim 26, wherein the rigidity of the reinforcement region decreases in a radially increasing direction with respect to the conduit.

28. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the first and second longitudinal sections form an angle to an imaginary plane passing through the region where the conduit and the flange are joined.

29. The implantable flow connector of claim 1, wherein the first and second longitudinal sections extend further radially from the conduit than the first and second lateral sections.

30. An implantable flow connector for fluidically coupling a source tissue-enclosed body space with a destination conduit, comprising:

a conduit having a lumen having a first diameter and terminating at a first orifice at a first end of the conduit implantable in the source body space through an opening formed in a tissue wall of the source body space, and a second end of the conduit, comprising a second orifice having a second diameter, and implantable in the destination conduit through an opening at an end of the destination conduit;

a circumferential flange, radially extending from the conduit proximate the conduit first end, the flange having first and second longitudinal sections and first and second lateral sections, the first and second longitudinal sections each having an inner region and an outer region, wherein the outer regions are joined as they are contiguous with the lateral sections, and wherein the outer regions are more flexible than the inner regions; and

one or more cutout regions disposed on said flange and configured to promote folding of said flange to facilitate insertion through the opening.

31. The implantable flow connector of claim 30, wherein the one or more cutout regions include first and second cutout regions formed between the lateral and longitudinal sections on a first side of the conduit.

32. The implantable flow connector of claim 31, wherein the one or more cutout regions include third and fourth cutout regions formed between the lateral and longitudinal sections on a second opposing side of the conduit.

33. The implantable flow connector of claim 30, wherein the inner regions comprise a reinforcement region located on a side of the flange facing the conduit, the reinforcement region increasing the rigidity of the flange.

34. The implantable flow connector of claim 30, wherein the first and second longitudinal sections extend further radially from the conduit than the first and second lateral sections.

35. The implantable flow connector of claim 30, wherein the outer regions of the first and second longitudinal sections angle in a direction toward the conduit to form an angle with an imaginary plane passing through the region where the conduit extends from the flange.

36. The implantable flow connector of claim 30, wherein the outer region of the second longitudinal section is pointed.

37. The implantable flow connector of claim 30, wherein the outer region of the first longitudinal section is rounded.