Tunneling guidewire

• US 9,427,558 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2015
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arkis Biosciences
• Original Assignee: Arkis Biosciences
• Inventors: Seaver, Chad Eric, Arnott, James Chris, Killeffer, James Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): ORKIN, ALEXANDER J
• Application Number:
  US14/660,616
• Publication Number:
  US 20150258313A1
• Time in Patent Office: 532 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/3415 for introducing tubes or catheters, e.g. gastrostomy tubes, drain catheters A61B17/3417 takes precedence; body piercing catheter guide needles A61M25/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/09125 Device for locking a guide wire in a fixed position with respect to the catheter or the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/09175 having specific characteristics at the distal tip
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0194 Tunnelling catheters
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/09041 Mechanisms for insertion of guide wires
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 27/006 Cerebrospinal drainage; Accessories therefor, e.g. valves

Abstract

A medical device tunneling system, and a method of using the same, to subcutaneously route trocars, also commonly referred to as tunnelers, or introducers, having a cannula, stylet, and a guidewire stylet, inside a patient during a surgical procedure, such as a ventriculoperitoneal hydrocephalus shunt implantation, from a proximal entry point to a distal end point, in order to subcutaneously route and implant a medical device, such as shunt tubing, in a patient.

Claims

1. A method of subcutaneously routing tubing within a human patient as part of a surgical procedure for cerebrospinal fluid diversion, comprising:

in a torso area of the patient;

inserting at least a portion of a stylet into a cannula, wherein the cannula comprises a hollow passage;

inserting at least a portion of the cannula and stylet into the patient subcutaneously through the first skin incision;

extravascularly routing the cannula and stylet from the first skin incision to an area adjacent an external surface of the patient'"'"'s skull;

inserting a guidewire through the hollow passage of the cannula;

steering the guidewire around the area and to a second skin incision located proximate the external surface of the patient'"'"'s skull, wherein said steering is achieved without the use of a third incision;

attaching tubing to the guidewire, the attached tubing comprising drainage tubing for allowing flow of cerebrospinal fluid therethrogh; and

retracting the guidewire and attached tubing, wherein the attached tubing is disposed subcutaneously and extends between the first and second skin incisions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising inserting the guidewire through a passage defined through the stylet.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising bending the guidewire before inserting the guidewire through the passage of the stylet.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the stylet from the cannula, wherein inserting the guidewire comprises inserting a combination guidewire-stylet into the cannula.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein attaching the tubing comprises securing the tubing to a blunt tip of the guidewire.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the guidewire is pre-bent such that a portion of the guidewire comprises a minimum bend radius of about one centimeter.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the guidewire is pre-bent to a bend radius that substantially matches the parietal bone radius of the patient'"'"'s skull.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the guidewire comprises a tensile strength range from about 300 mega-pascals to about 3,500 mega-pascals.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the guidewire comprises a Young'"'"'s modulus of at least 30 giga-pascals.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannula comprises a first end, a second end, a first portion associated with the first end, and a second portion associated with the second end, wherein the second portion comprises a bend such that the second end is located at a point between 0 degrees and 45 degrees from an axis aligned with the first portion.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein attaching the tubing comprises securing the tubing to an endpoint loop.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising bending the guidewire before inserting the guidewire through the hollow passage.