DEVICE FOR TREATING MITRAL VALVE REGURGITATION

• US 20070066863A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Vascular, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Vascular, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Rafiee, Nasser, Finney, Michael, Bloom, Eliot, Godaire, Raymond
• Application Number:
  US11/468,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20070066863A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/37
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/00234 for minimally invasive surgery A61B17/0218, A61B17/0469, A61B17/12013, A61B17/1285, A61B17/29, A61B17/320016 take precedence
• 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 2017/00243 cardiac
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00867 shape memory effect for prostheses A61F2210/0014
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0443 the shaft being resilient and having a coiled or helical shape in the released state
• 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 hollow suture needles A61B2017/061
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2487 Devices within the heart chamber, e.g. splints

Abstract

A system for treating mitral valve regurgitation comprises tensioning device that can be deployed using a delivery catheter. The device includes tension member linking a proximal anchor and distal anchor. The device is constructed from a material having suitable elastic properties such that the device applies a constant tension force between the anchors, while stretching or flexing in response to a heartbeat when positioned across a chamber of a heart. The anchors may include a plurality of arms. In some embodiments, the arms may also flex in response to a heart beat. When positioned across the left ventricle of a heart, the device can reduce the lateral distance between the walls of the ventricle and thus allow better coaption of the mitral valve leaflets thereby reducing mitral regurgitation.

Claims

1. A device for implanting in a heart chamber to treat mitral valve regurgitation by reducing the lateral distance between the septum and the free wall of a the heart, the device comprising:

an elongated tension member having a long axis with a distal end and a proximal end, the tension member being elastic along the long axis such that when a force is applied, the tension member stretches from a first length to a second length and when the force is removed the tension member returns to the first length;

a distal anchor member attached to the distal end of the tension member; and

a proximal anchor member.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein when the device is positioned across a chamber of a heart, the length of the tension member changes in response to a heartbeat.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the tension member is a helical extension spring.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the tension member is made from a material selected from a group consisting of a nickel-titanium alloy, a nickel-cobalt alloy, a cobalt alloy, a thermoset plastic, a thermoplastics, stainless steel, a biocompatible shape-memory material, a biocompatible superelastic material, and a combination thereof.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the tension member is made from an elastomeric material.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein the tension member is made from a material selected from a group consisting of silicone and urethane.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the anchor members comprises a plurality of flexible arms.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the anchor members comprises an expandable tubular braided portion.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein the anchor members can be compressed into a delivery configuration and placed within a lumen of a delivery catheter, and wherein the anchor members self-expand when they are released from the delivery catheter.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein the proximal anchor is adjustably attachable and the proximity of the anchors, one to the other can be adjusted.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the device includes a therapeutic agent selected from a group consisting of an antithrombotic, an anticoagulant, an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, and a combination thereof.

12. A device for implanting in a heart chamber to treat mitral valve regurgitation by reducing the lateral distance between the septum and the free wall of a the heart, the device comprising:

an elongated tension member having a long axis with a distal end and a proximal end, the tension member being elastic along the long axis such that when a force is applied, the tension member stretches from a first length to a second length and when the force is removed the tension member returns to the first length;

a distal anchor member attached to the distal end of the tension member; and

a proximal anchor member attached to the proximal end of the tension member

whereby, when the device is positioned across a chamber of a heart, the length of the tension member changes in response to a heartbeat.

13. The device of claim 12 wherein the tension member is a helical extension spring made from a material selected from a group consisting of a nickel-titanium alloy, a nickel-cobalt alloy, a cobalt alloy, a thermoset plastic, a thermoplastic, stainless steel, a biocompatible shape-memory material, a biocompatible superelastic material, and a combination thereof.

14. The device of claim 12 wherein the tension member is made from an elastomeric material selected from a group consisting of silicone and urethane.

15. The device of claim 12 wherein at least one of the anchor members comprises a plurality of flexible arms;

and

the anchor members can be compressed into a delivery configuration and placed within a lumen of a delivery catheter, and wherein the anchor members self-expand when they are released from the delivery catheter.

16. The device of claim 12 wherein at least one of the anchor members comprises an expandable tubular braided portion;

and

the anchor members can be compressed into a delivery configuration and placed within a lumen of a delivery catheter, and wherein the anchor members self-expand when they are released from the delivery catheter.

17. The device of claim 12 wherein at least a portion of the device includes a therapeutic agent selected from a group consisting of an antithrombotic, an anticoagulant, an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, and a combination thereof.

18. A system for treating mitral valve regurgitation, comprising;

a deliver catheter; and

a tensioning device received in the delivery catheter, the tensioning device including an elongated tension member having a long axis with a distal end and a proximal end, the tension member being elastic along the long axis such that when a force is applied, the tension member stretches from a first length to a second length and when the force is removed the tension member returns to the first length, a distal anchor member attached to the distal end of the tension member, and a proximal anchor member; and

whereby the length of the tension member changes in response to a heartbeat when the device is positioned across a chamber of a heart.