METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ANCHORING WITHIN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

• US 20140100512A1
• Filed: 12/10/2013
• Published: 04/10/2014
• 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.
• Granted Patent: US 9,084,669 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/8
• 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 hollow suture needles A61B2017/061
• 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:

a flexible sleeve configured to carry chyme from a proximal end of the sleeve to a distal end of the sleeve and adapted to extend into the intestine; and

a wave anchor coupled to a proximal portion of the sleeve, the wave anchor formed of an elongated resilient member and being adapted for attachment within an animal body, the wave anchor defining a central lumen diameter that is variable between a relaxed state and a compressed state, the wave anchor comprising ends separated by an axial length, wherein the axial length is within a range of about 1 inch to about 2 inches.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the axial length is within a range of about 1.25 inches to about 1.5 inches.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein a ratio of the axial length to the central lumen diameter in a relaxed state is at least about 0.8

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the wave anchor accommodates a diameter of an adult human'"'"'s intestine of about 45 millimeters.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the wave anchor has a single wave in a single revolution.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein the single wave is formed about a central axis, the elongated resilient member defining an oscillating pattern about the central axis alternating between the first and second ends.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein the oscillating pattern has at least four oscillations.

8. The device of claim 6 wherein the elongated resilient member comprises a material selected from the group consisting of:

metals, alloys, plastics, and combinations thereof.

9. The device of claim 6 wherein the elongated resilient member comprises a shape memory alloy.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the shape memory alloy is a Nickel Titanium alloy.

11. The device of claim 6 wherein the elongated resilient member includes a plurality of strands.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein some of the plurality of strands have different physical properties.

13. The device of claim 6 wherein the elongated resilient member comprises a first length having an associated physical property and a second length having a different associated physical property.

14. The device of claim 13 wherein the physical property is resiliency.

15. The device of claim 13 wherein the physical property is thickness.

16. The device of claim 13 wherein the physical property is cross sectional profile.

17. The device of claim 1 wherein a ratio of the axial length to the central lumen diameter when implanted is at least about one.

18. The device of claim 1 wherein a relaxed diameter of the wave anchor is about 45 millimeters.

19. The device of claim 1, comprising protrusions extending from the wave anchor.

20. The device of claim 19 wherein the protrusions include a plurality of barbs, and wherein each of the plurality of barbs comprises an elongated member, attached at one end to the wave anchor, the other end extending generally outward from a central axis of the wave anchor, the barb sized to engage muscular tissue of the surrounding intestine.

21. A gastrointestinal implant device comprising:

an anchor configured to attach to a natural lumen of a gastrointestinal tract of an animal;

a flexible sleeve configured to carry chyme from a proximal end of the sleeve to a distal end of the sleeve and adapted to extend into an intestine of the gastrointestinal tract; and

a connector magnetically coupling the flexible sleeve to the anchor.

22. The gastrointestinal implant of claim 21, 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.

23. A method of treatment comprising:

attaching an anchor to a natural lumen of a gastrointestinal tract of an animal; and

removably coupling a flexible sleeve to the anchor to carry chyme from a proximal end of the sleeve to a distal end of the sleeve and to extend into an intestine of the gastrointestinal tract, the removably coupling comprising magnetically engaging one of the anchor and the flexible sleeve with the other of the anchor and the flexible sleeve.