Leadless cardiac pacemaker with secondary fixation capability
First Claim
1. A leadless biostimulator comprising:
- a housing sized and configured to be disposed within a heart chamber of a human;
a primary fixation element configured to actively affix the biostimulator to a heart wall within the heart chamber; and
an expandable structure connected to a proximal portion of the housing, the expandable structure being adapted to assume a compressed linear configuration during delivery and an expanded configuration after delivery, wherein the expanded configuration of the expandable structure has a cross-sectional dimension that is greater than a diameter of a vascular exit pathway from the heart chamber so that expansion of expandable structure confines the leadless biostimulator and the expandable structure to the heart chamber.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to leadless cardiac pacemakers (LBS), and elements and methods by which they affix to the heart. The invention relates particularly to a secondary fixation of leadless pacemakers which also include a primary fixation. Secondary fixation elements for LBS'"'"'s may passively engage structures within the heart. Some passive secondary fixation elements entangle or engage within intraventricular structure such as trabeculae carneae. Other passive secondary fixation elements may engage or snag heart structures at sites upstream from the chamber where the LBS is primarily affixed. Still other embodiments of passive secondary fixation elements may include expandable structures.
654 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A leadless biostimulator comprising:
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a housing sized and configured to be disposed within a heart chamber of a human; a primary fixation element configured to actively affix the biostimulator to a heart wall within the heart chamber; and an expandable structure connected to a proximal portion of the housing, the expandable structure being adapted to assume a compressed linear configuration during delivery and an expanded configuration after delivery, wherein the expanded configuration of the expandable structure has a cross-sectional dimension that is greater than a diameter of a vascular exit pathway from the heart chamber so that expansion of expandable structure confines the leadless biostimulator and the expandable structure to the heart chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of retaining a leadless biostimulator within a human heart of a patient, comprising:
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confining an expandable member of the leadless biostimulator within a delivery device; delivering the leadless biostimulator to a heart chamber with the delivery device; actively affixing a primary fixation element of the leadless biostimulator to a heart wall of the heart chamber; and expanding the expandable member within the heart chamber to have a cross-sectional linear dimension greater than a downstream vascular exit from the heart chamber such that the expandable member is confined to the heart chamber and the leadless biostimulator is confined to the heart chamber by the expandable member. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification