Medical device and medical device assembly

A medical device for collecting a solid object in a living body, the medical device comprising:

• a cylindrical member possessing a center axis, an inner wall surface that defines a flow channel, and a side wall, the cylindrical member having an inner cavity possessing a distal end and a proximal end, a suction port on the distal end of the inner cavity, and a discharge port in the side wall configured to communicate with the inner cavity;
• an impeller in the inner cavity configured to carry fluid from the suction port to the discharge port;
• a filter in the inner cavity configured to collect the solid object, the filter comprising a plurality of through holes configured to allow the fluid to pass through the filter and to prevent the solid object from passing through the filter to thereby collect the solid object in the inner cavity distal of the filter;
• and
• at least part of the inner wall surface, which defines the flow channel allowing a movement of the fluid from the impeller to the discharge port, is inclined from the center axis of the cylindrical member toward the distal end with respect to a transverse direction of the cylindrical member so that the part of the inner wall surface forms an acute angle with the center axis of the cylindrical member,
• wherein the filter is a meshed fabric possessing uniformly sized openings.

A medical device assembly for collecting a solid object in a living body together with a fluid in the living body, the medical device assembly comprising:

• a cylindrical member possessing a center axis, an inner wall surface that defines a flow channel of the fluid, and a side wall, the cylindrical member having an inner cavity possessing a distal end and a proximal end, a suction port on the distal end of the inner cavity, and a discharge port in the side wall and configured to communicate with the inner cavity, the discharge port in the side wall possessing a proximal-most end;
• an impeller in the inner cavity configured to carry the fluid from the suction port to the discharge port;
• a filter in the inner cavity configured to collect the solid object;
• at least part of the inner wall surface, which defines a flow channel allowing a movement of the fluid from the impeller to the discharge port, being inclined from a center axis of the cylindrical member toward a distal end with respect to a transverse direction of the cylindrical member so that the part of the inner wall surface forms an acute angle with the center axis of the cylindrical member, the inclined part of the inner wall surface possessing a distal-most end;
• and
• the distal-most end of the inclined part of the inner wall surface being located at the proximal-most end of the discharge port.

A method of collecting a solid object in a living body together with a fluid in the living body, the method comprising:

• inserting a medical device into the living body, the medical device comprising:
• a cylindrical member comprising an inner wall surface and an inner cavity, the inner cavity possessing a distal end and a proximal end, the cylindrical member further comprising a suction port and a discharge port, and the cylindrical member possessing a central axis;
• an impeller in the inner cavity;
• a filter in the inner cavity, and an inclined inner wall surface inclined from the center axis of the cylindrical member toward the distal end of the inner cavity with respect to a transverse direction of the cylindrical member so that the part of the inner wall surface forms an acute angle with the center axis of the cylindrical member, the filter being positioned distally of the impeller within the inner cavity to partition the inner cavity into a distal space distal to the filter and a proximal space proximal to the filter;
• moving the medical device within the living body so that the suction port is positioned near the solid object;
• activating the impeller to create a fluid flow channel from the suction port to the discharge port of the cylindrical member, the fluid in the fluid flow channel being inducted through the induction port, conveyed proximally to contact the inclined inner wall surface, and redirected by the inclined inner wall to exit the discharge port so that the fluid is moving toward the distal end of the inner cavity;
• sucking the solid object together with the fluid into the inner cavity;
• and
• collecting the solid object using the filter, the collecting of the solid object comprises retaining the solid object in the distal space while the fluid flows through the filter.