IMPLANT IMPLANTATION UNIT AND PROCEDURE FOR IMPLANTING THE UNIT
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The implant implantation unit (2), at a determined position in the tubular element (51) with a wall comprising a cavity (50), is pushed there by a catheter (60) and the unit comprises deformable feelers (31) to, under the control of remote activation elements (42), change from a stowed form to a deployed functional form, to detect the cavity (50) and position itself there with reference to the position of the cavity.
258 Citations
46 Claims
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1-10. -10. (canceled)
- 11. An implantation unit comprising a valve implant for delivery at a determined position within a blood vessel of a patient, the unit comprising a cylindrical mesh that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the mesh including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the cylindrical mesh and disposed in a position around the cylindrical mesh, the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the cylindrical mesh, each feeler extending from the cylindrical mesh in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler that can engage with a cavity along the blood vessel as the unit is moved into position in the engagement direction.
- 22. An implantation unit comprising a valve implant for delivery at a determined position within a blood vessel of a patient, the unit comprising a implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the implant member including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the implant member and disposed in a position around the implant member, the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each feeler extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler that can engage with a cavity along the blood vessel as the unit is moved into position in the engagement direction, wherein the feeler is operatively connected with the implant member such that after the feeler is engaged with tissue of a cavity along a blood vessel, the implant member can be expanded to its radially deployed form with the tissue captured between the implant member and the feeler.
- 28. An implantation unit comprising a valve implant for delivery at a determined position within a blood vessel of a patient, the unit comprising a implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the implant member including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the implant member and disposed in a position around the implant member, the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each feeler extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler that can engage with a cavity along the blood vessel as the unit is moved into position in the engagement direction, wherein the feeler includes an engagement surface at an angle with respect to the direction of extension of the feeler for engaging tissue during implantation of the unit and which causes alignment rotation of the unit about a cylindrical axis of the implant member as the engagement surface abuts tissue while the unit is moved in the engagement direction.
- 34. A delivery system for implantation of an implantation unit, the delivery system comprising a catheter including a distal end supporting a valve implant for delivery at a determined position within a blood vessel of a patient as the catheter is controllable from a proximal end, the implantation unit comprising a implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the implant member including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the implant member and disposed in a position around the implant member. the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each feeler extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler that can engage with a cavity along the blood vessel as the unit is moved into position in the engagement direction.
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42. A method of implanting a unit within a blood vessel of a patient, the unit comprising a implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the implant member including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the implant member and disposed in a position around the implant member, the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each feeler extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler, the method including the steps of.
providing the unit on the distal end of a delivery catheter; -
inserting the unit within the blood vessel of a patient and guiding the unit to an implantation site as controlled by the delivery catheter; expanding a feeler of the unit; moving the unit in the engagement direction in the vicinity of a valve within a blood vessel so that the feeler engages within a cavity of the blood vessel that is formed beyond, in the fluid flow direction, a valve element of a valve to be replaced; and expanding the implant member to secure the unit in place within the blood vessel. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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45. A method of implanting a unit within a blood vessel of a patient, the unit comprising a implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the implant member including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the implant member and disposed in a position around the implant member, the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each feeler extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler, the method including the steps of:
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providing the unit on the distal end of a delivery catheter; inserting the unit within the blood vessel of a patient and guiding the unit to an implantation site as controlled by the delivery catheter; expanding a feeler of the unit; moving the unit in the engagement direction in the vicinity of a valve within a blood vessel so that the feeler engages within a cavity of the blood vessel that is formed beyond, in the fluid flow direction, a valve element of a valve to be replaced, and during the engagement of the feeler with the cavity the unit being rotated by action between the feeler and tissue of the cavity for aligning the unit; and expanding the implant member to secure the unit in place within the blood vessel.
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46. A method of implanting a unit within a blood vessel of a patient, the unit comprising a implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, a valve implant carried on the implant member including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and at least one feeler that is operatively connected with the implant member and disposed in a position around the implant member, the feeler being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each feeler extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the feeler, the method including the steps of:
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providing the unit on the distal end of a delivery catheter; inserting the unit within the blood vessel of a patient and guiding the unit to an implantation site as controlled by the delivery catheter; expanding a feeler of the unit; moving the unit in the engagement direction in the vicinity of a valve within a blood vessel so that the feeler engages within a cavity of the blood vessel that is formed beyond. in the fluid flow direction, a valve element of a valve to be replaced; and expanding the implant member to secure the unit in place within the blood vessel, and during the expansion of the implant member, capturing a valve element of the valve to be replaced between the implant member and the feeler.
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Specification