Vessel filter
First Claim
1. A vessel filter comprising a first region at a cranial end and a second region at a caudal end, the filter movable between a collapsed position for delivery to a vessel and an expanded position for placement within the vessel, the first region having a filter portion having a plurality of spaced apart elongated struts, a retrieval structure positioned at the cranial end of the filter, the second region being flared in the expanded position to have a transverse dimension increasing toward the caudal end, the second region including a plurality of vessel engaging hooks, each of the hooks having an elongated heel portion and a vessel penetrating portion, the elongated heel portion extending further from the cranial end than the penetrating portion, in the collapsed position of the filter the elongated heel portion of one hook is nested within a radially spaced adjacent hook of an adjacent strut to form a nested position, and in the expanded position the elongated heel portion moves away from the nested position so it is no longer in the nested position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of removing an implanted vessel filter by a femoral approach comprising the steps of providing a catheter with a curved tip, inserting a straightening device into the catheter to move the catheter tip from a curved position to a more straightened position, advancing the catheter tip through the femoral vein and past a cranial end of the filter, withdrawing the straightening device to enable the catheter tip to return to the curved condition, and inserting a filter grasping device though the catheter and a curved catheter tip to exit a distal portion to grasp the filter.
227 Citations
19 Claims
- 1. A vessel filter comprising a first region at a cranial end and a second region at a caudal end, the filter movable between a collapsed position for delivery to a vessel and an expanded position for placement within the vessel, the first region having a filter portion having a plurality of spaced apart elongated struts, a retrieval structure positioned at the cranial end of the filter, the second region being flared in the expanded position to have a transverse dimension increasing toward the caudal end, the second region including a plurality of vessel engaging hooks, each of the hooks having an elongated heel portion and a vessel penetrating portion, the elongated heel portion extending further from the cranial end than the penetrating portion, in the collapsed position of the filter the elongated heel portion of one hook is nested within a radially spaced adjacent hook of an adjacent strut to form a nested position, and in the expanded position the elongated heel portion moves away from the nested position so it is no longer in the nested position.
- 11. A vessel filter comprising a body made from a single tube, the tube cut to create a plurality of elongated struts forming a filter region and a mounting region, the mounting region including a plurality of vessel engaging hooks, each of the vessel engaging hooks having a curved concave region, a penetrating tip pointing in a direction toward the filter region, and an elongated heel extending beyond the penetrating tip in a direction away from the filtering region, the filter movable between a collapsed position for delivery and an expanded position for placement, in the collapsed position the elongated heel of one vessel engaging hook of the plurality of vessel engaging hooks is closer to a cranial end of the filter than the elongated heel of an adjacent vessel engaging hook of the plurality of vessel engaging hooks, and a first strut of the plurality of struts has a first transverse dimension and a second reduced transverse dimension portion cranially of the concave region and caudally of the first transverse dimension, wherein the second reduced transverse dimension of the first strut accommodates the elongated heel of the vessel engaging hook of a second strut adjacent the first strut.
Specification