# US 11,298,503 B2 · Platform insert for bowl, bowl with platform, and methods of using the same > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,298,503 B2 - Document ID: US11298503B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/540,628 - Filed: 2019-08-14 - Published: 2020-02-20 - Granted: 2022-04-12 - Earliest claimed: 2018-08-16 - Assignees: Augusta University Research Institute, Inc. - Applicants: Augusta University Research Institute, Inc.; Georgia Southern University - Inventors: Mahmoud Baniasadi; Cargill H Alleyne, Jr. - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11298503B2 ## CPC - A61M 25/002: {Packages specially adapted therefor (combined with means for introducing catheters, e.g. dispensers, A61M25/0113); catheter kit packages (for surgical articles A61B50/30)} - B65D 25/107: {Grooves, ribs, or the like, situated on opposed walls and between which the articles are located} - B65D 85/04: for coils of wire, rope or hose - A61B 50/20: Holders specially adapted for surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments (drapes with means to hold surgical instruments A61B46/23; for catheters A61M25/02) - A61B 50/30: Containers specially adapted for packaging, protecting, dispensing, collecting or disposing of surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments (for wound clamps A61B17/10; for ligaturing clips A61B17/122; packages or dispensers for surgical gloves or finger-stalls A61B42/40) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} - B65D: CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract A filament platform insert for insertion into a bowl includes a plurality protruding stages and a plurality of recesses that are each formed in arcuate shapes to form a plurality of arcuate filament channels. An access channel extending along the platform insert, between a top and bottom, and between a rear and front, provides access for insertion of a finger or tool for manipulating an endovascular filament stored in the filament channel. The platform insert is dimensioned such that alignment of multiple such platforms will form filament raceways within a bowl for the coiled reception and storage of multiple endovascular filaments, with each filament reliably isolated from one another. In an alternative configuration, an endovascular filament bowl may be made to have the filament platform as a monolithic component thereof. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A filament platform insert for insertion into a bowl comprising: a platform body having an arcuate shape with an outer perimeter in the form of a minor arc, the platform body having a front end, a rear end, a bottom, a top, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side, wherein the first and second lateral sides extend vertically between the bottom and top, the front end extends laterally between the first and second lateral sides at a radially-inward perimeter between the bottom and top, and the rear end extends laterally between the first and second lateral sides at a radially-outward perimeter between the bottom and top; the platform body comprising a plurality of stages that protrude in a radially-inward direction, with at least one stage in the plurality of stages being defined at least in part by a first upper surface and a second lower surface, and a plurality of recesses that open at a radially-inward side of the platform and extend into the platform body in a radially-outward direction, with at least one recess in the plurality of recesses being defined at least in part by a first curved radially-outward surface and a second upper surface, the plurality of stages and recesses forming a plurality of filament channels in the platform body, wherein the plurality of stages and the plurality of recesses are arranged in a recess-stage-recess sequence, with at least one sequence in which the second upper surface of a recess corresponds with the second lower surface of an adjacent platform and the first curved radially-outward surface of the recess has a radially-outward most point at an upper end of the curved surface, and stages in the plurality of stages and recesses in the plurality of recesses extend laterally between the first lateral side and the second lateral side such that the arcuate shape of the platform body is circumferentially centered around a reference axis that extends in a top-to-bottom direction, perpendicular to the lateral extension of the stages and recesses, with the reference axis passing through a point at or forward of the front end of the platform body. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The platform insert according to claim 1, wherein the stages in the plurality of stages are positioned sequentially one after another between the front end and the rear end of the platform body, with successive stages positioned radially outward of a preceding stage in a radially horizontal direction relative to the reference axis, and the recesses in the plurality of recesses are positioned sequentially one after another between the front end and the rear end of the platform body, with successive recesses positioned radially outward of a preceding recess in a radially horizontal direction relative to the reference axis. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The platform insert according to claim 2, wherein in the recess-stage-recess sequence of the plurality of stages and the plurality of recesses, a forward most edge of a stage that is positioned radially outward of a preceding recess extends to a position that is further radially inward than a position of a radially outward most perimeter of the preceding recess. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The platform insert according to claim 2, wherein the arcuate shapes of the stages and recesses, and the filament channels formed thereby, extend non-continuously between the first lateral side and the second lateral side. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The platform insert according to claim 4, further comprising a channel extending at least in part horizontally between the rear end and the front end of the platform body in the radially horizontal direction, the channel being defined at least in part by openings in stages in the plurality of stages, the channel openings being positioned between laterally adjacent sections of filament channels. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The platform insert according to claim 1, wherein the stages in the plurality of stages are positioned sequentially one after another between the bottom and the top of the platform body, with successive stages positioned above a preceding stage in a vertical direction relative to the bottom of the platform, and the recesses in the plurality of recesses are positioned sequentially one after another between the bottom and the top of the platform body, with successive recesses positioned above a preceding recess in a vertical direction relative to the bottom of the platform. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The platform insert according to claim 6, wherein in the recess-stage-recess sequence of the plurality of stages and the plurality of recesses, a forward most edge of a stage that is positioned vertically above a preceding recess extends to a position that is further radially inward than a position of a radially outward most perimeter of the preceding recess. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The platform insert according to claim 6, wherein the arcuate shapes of the stages and recesses, and the filament channels formed thereby, extend non-continuously between the first lateral side and the second lateral side. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The platform insert according to claim 8, further comprising a channel extending at least in part vertically between the top of the platform body and the bottom of the platform body in the vertical direction, the channel being defined at least in part by openings in stages in the plurality of stages, the channel openings being positioned between laterally adjacent sections of filament channels. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The platform insert according to claim 1, wherein the platform body is formed with a staircase configuration such that the stages in the plurality of stages are positioned sequentially one after another between the bottom and the top of the platform body and between the front end and the rear end of the platform body, which successive stages positioned vertically above a preceding stage in a vertical direction relative to the bottom of the platform body and radially outward of the preceding stage in a horizontal direction relative to the reference axis, and the recesses in the plurality of recesses are positioned sequentially one after another between the bottom and the top of the platform body and between the front end and the rear end of the platform body, which successive recesses positioned vertically above a preceding recess in a vertical direction relative to the bottom of the platform body and radially outward of the preceding recess in the horizontal direction relative to the reference axis. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The platform insert according to claim 10, wherein in the recess-stage-recess sequence of the plurality of stages and the plurality of recesses, a forward most edge of a stage that is positioned vertically above and radially outward of a preceding recess extends to a position that is further radially inward than a position of a radially outward most perimeter of the preceding recess. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The platform insert according to claim 10, wherein the arcuate shapes of the stages and recesses, and the filament channels formed thereby, extend non-continuously between the first lateral side and the second lateral side. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The platform insert according to claim 12, further comprising a channel extending diagonally along the platform body, so as to extend in part vertically between the top of the platform and the bottom of the platform body and in part horizontally between the rear end and the front end of the platform body, the channel being defined at least in part by openings in stages in the plurality of stages, the channel openings being positioned between laterally adjacent sections of filament channels. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) A method of using endovascular filaments in a surgical procedure, comprising inserting a number of filament platform inserts according to claim 1 into a bowl, with the filament platforms placed at relative positions to one another so as to align the filament channels of the filament platforms to form filament raceways; inserting at least one endovascular filament into a filament raceway, with the endovascular filament extending along the filament raceway so as to be held in a coiled arrangement within the bowl; introducing a sterile solution into the bowl in sufficient volume to submerse the at least one endovascular filament. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising extracting an endovascular filament from the bowl by gripping the endovascular filament coiled in a filament raceway, uncoiling a length of the endovascular filament from the filament raceway, and feeding the gripped endovascular filament from the bowl with the endovascular filament sliding through the filament raceway. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein at least one filament platform positioned in the bowl further comprises an access channel that extends horizontally between the rear end and the front end of the platform body, vertically between the top and the bottom of the platform body, or both horizontally and vertically, the channel being defined at least in part by access openings in individual stages in the plurality of stages, with the access openings being positioned between laterally adjacent sections of filament channels, and gripping an endovascular filament in a filament raceway for extraction from the bowl comprises inserting a user's finger or a tool along the access channel so as to engage a length of the endovascular filament that is exposed at an access opening. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one endovascular filament inserted into a filament raceway is a catheter, a micro-catheter, a guidewire, a micro-guidewire, or an intravenous line. ### Claim 18 A filament bowl comprising a filament platform, the filament platform comprising: a platform body having an arcuate shape with an outer perimeter in the form of a minor arc, the platform body having a front end, a rear end, a bottom, a top, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side, wherein the first and second lateral sides extend vertically between the bottom and top, the front end extends laterally between the first and second lateral sides at a radially-inward perimeter between the bottom and top, and the rear end extends laterally between the first and second lateral sides at a radially-outward perimeter between the bottom and top; the platform body comprising a plurality of stages that protrude in a radially-inward direction, with at least one stage in the plurality of stages being defined at least in part by a first upper surface and a second lower surface, and a plurality of recesses that are open at a radially-inward side of the platform and extend into the platform body in a radially-outward direction, with at least one recess in the plurality of recesses being defined at least in part by a first curved radially-outward surface and a second upper surface, the plurality of stages and recesses forming a plurality of filament channels in the platform body, wherein the plurality of stages and the plurality of recesses are arranged in a recess-stage-recess sequence, with at least one sequence in which the second upper surface of a recess corresponds with the second lower surface of an adjacent platform and the first curved radially-outward surface of the recess has a radially-outward most point at an upper end of the curved surface, and stages in the plurality of stages and recesses in the plurality of recesses extend laterally between the first lateral side and the second lateral side such that the arcuate shape of the platform body is circumferentially centered around a reference axis that extends in a top-to-bottom direction, perpendicular to the lateral extension of the stages and recesses, with the reference axis passing through a point at or forward of the front end of the platform body. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The filament bowl according to claim 18, wherein the filament platform is a monolithic component of the filament bowl. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The filament bowl according to claim 18, wherein recesses in the plurality of recesses are configured such that filaments retained in the recesses remain exposed for removal from the recesses by translating the filament in a radially inward direction, toward the reference axis, and out the recessing openings at the radially-inward side of the platform. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The platform insert according to claim 1, wherein recesses in the plurality of recesses are configured such that filaments retained in the recesses remain exposed for removal from the recesses by translating the filament in a radially inward direction, toward the reference axis, and out the recessing openings at the radially-inward side of the platform.