Methods and apparatus for anchoring within the gastrointestinal tract

• US 9,585,783 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2015
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GI Dynamics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GI Dynamics Incorporated
• Inventors: Meade, John C., Levine, Andy H., Melanson, David A., Cvinar, John F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stewart, Jason-Dennis
• Application Number:
  US14/710,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20150238305A1
• Time in Patent Office: 664 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0401 Suture anchors, buttons or pledgets, i.e. means for attaching sutures to bone, cartilage or soft tissue; Instruments for applying or removing suture anchors A61B17/0642 takes precedence; fixation devices for tendons or ligaments A61F2/0811
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0482 Needle or suture guides guides for drills, pins or wire A61B17/17; for puncturing needles A61B17/3403
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/12 for ligaturing or otherwise compressing tubular parts of the body, e.g. blood vessels, umbilical cord specially adapted for vas deferens or fallopian tubes A61F6/20; materials for ligaturing blood vessels A61L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0419 H-fasteners
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/06052 Needle-suture combinations in which a suture is extending inside a hollow tubular needle, e.g. over the entire length of the needle
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/04 Hollow or tubular parts of organs, e.g. bladders, tracheae, bronchi or bile ducts A61F2/18, A61F2/20 take precedence; devices, other than stent-grafts, providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body other than stent-grafts, e.g. stents A61F2/82; instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts A61F2/95
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/848 having means for fixation to the vessel wall, e.g. barbs
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/91 made from perforated sheet material or tubes, e.g. perforated by laser cuts or etched holes
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/915 with bands having a meander structure, adjacent bands being connected to each other
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/95 Instruments specially adapted for placement or removal of stents or stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/045 Stomach, intestines
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/8483 Barbs
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/91541 Adjacent bands are arranged out of phase
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/91558 connected peak to peak
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 the retaining means being filaments or wires
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0008 Fixation appliances for connecting prostheses to the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0016 with sharp anchoring protrusions, e.g. barbs, pins, spikes
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0058 soldered or brazed or welded
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0066 stapled
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/0076 preventing normal digestion, e.g. Bariatric or gastric sleeves
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 29/00 : Non-central analgesic, antipyretic or antiinflammatory agents, e.g. antirheumatic agents; Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs [NSAID]
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 3/10 : for hyperglycaemia, e.g. antidiabetics

Abstract

The present invention relates to an anchor configured for minimally-invasive implantation and sized to remain securely positioned within at least a portion of the gastrointestinal tract of an animal. The anchor includes a radial spring formed from an elongated resilient member shaped into an annular wave pattern about a central axis. The anchor defines a central lumen and provides an outward radial force, while allowing for substantial flexure about its perimeter. The anchor is generally removable, but can include fasteners, such as barbs, to further secure it to the surrounding anatomy. In some embodiments, the anchor includes a connector coupling a fixed portion to a removable portion. Further, the anchor can be used to secure a medical device within the body, such as a flexible sleeve within the intestine.

Claims

1. A gastrointestinal implant device comprising:

an anchor configured to be retained within the duodenal bulb of a patient;

a flexible sleeve configured to carry chyme from a proximal end of the flexible sleeve to a distal end of the flexible sleeve and adapted to extend into an intestine of the gastrointestinal tract, wherein the proximal end of the flexible sleeve is matched in shape to a proximal end of the anchor; and

a connector removably coupling the proximal end of the flexible sleeve to the anchor.

2. The gastrointestinal implant device of claim 1, wherein the connector comprises a magnet coupled to one of the anchor and the flexible sleeve and configured to magnetically engage a feature of the other of the anchor and the flexible sleeve.

3. The gastrointestinal implant device of claim 1, wherein the connector comprises a connector magnetically coupling the flexible sleeve to the anchor.

4. The gastrointestinal implant device of claim 1, wherein the flexible sleeve is configured to prevent flow of liquid across its membrane.

5. The gastrointestinal implant device of claim 1, wherein the flexible sleeve has a terminal proximal diameter greater than a terminal distal diameter.

6. The gastrointestinal implant device of claim 1, wherein the anchor is a wave anchor.