# US 11,304,835 B2 · Inflatable insertion device for percutaneous insertion > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,304,835 B2 - Document ID: US11304835B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/080,779 - Filed: 2017-03-01 - Published: 2019-02-21 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-01 - Assignees: Strait Access Technologies Holdings (Pty) Ltd - Applicants: Strait Access Technologies Holdings (Pty) Ltd - Inventors: Giuseppe Geldenhuys; Fourie Gildenhuys; Braden Sydney Clive Van Breda; Kenneth Stuart Park; Carl Nick Van Zyl; Jandré De Villiers; Peter Paul Zilla; Deon Bezuidenhout - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11304835B2 ## CPC - A61F 2/958: Inflatable balloons for placing stents or stent-grafts - A61F 2/2433: {using balloon catheter} - A61M 25/1002: {characterised by balloon shape (A61M25/1006, A61M25/1009 take precedence)} - A61F 2220/005: using adhesives - A61F 2220/0058: soldered or brazed or welded - A61F 2220/0075: sutured, ligatured or stitched, retained or tied with a rope, string, thread, wire or cable - A61F 2230/0013: Horseshoe-shaped, e.g. crescent-shaped, C-shaped, U-shaped - A61F 2230/0041: J-shaped - A61F 2230/0091: helically-coiled or spirally-coiled, i.e. having a 2-D spiral cross-section - A61F 2230/0097: Harpoon-shaped - A61F 2240/00: Manufacturing or designing of prostheses classified in groups A61F2/00 - A61F2/26 or A61F2/82 or A61F9/00 or A61F11/00 or subgroups thereof - A61F 2250/0039: differing in diameter - A61M 2025/1052: {for temporarily occluding a vessel for isolating a sector} - A61M 2025/1065: {having a balloon which is inversely attached to the shaft at the distal or proximal end} - A61M 2025/1068: {having means for varying the length or diameter of the deployed balloon, this variations could be caused by excess pressure} - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - 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)} ## Abstract The invention provides an inflatable insertion device capable of being percutaneously introduced into a patient's body. The insertion device comprises an inflatable element having a distal end and a proximal end and which is operable between a collapsed condition and an inflated condition by introducing an inflating fluid therein. An elongate member extends internally of the inflatable element from its distal end. The internal member is capable of being withdrawn towards the proximal end of the inflatable element to result in the distal end of the element being withdrawn towards the proximal end internally of the element. The invention further provides a locating device comprising a catheter having a catheter tube fitted with one or more inflatable insertion devices at a distal end thereof. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for delivery of a medical implant comprising: at least two inflatable insertion devices capable of being percutaneously introduced into a patient's body, each of said inflatable insertion devices comprising an inflatable element in the form of a small diameter elongate tube having a distal end and a proximal end and being operable between a collapsed condition and an inflated condition, wherein an elongate member extends internally of the inflatable element from the distal end thereof and which is capable of being withdrawn towards the proximal end of the inflatable element to result in the distal end being withdrawn towards the proximal end internally of the inflatable element, and wherein the entire inflatable element is a non-compliant inflatable element and pre-set to a desired elongate shape so as to adopt the pre-set elongate shape when inflated, and wherein the elongate member is more flexible than the inflatable element when inflated to its pre-set desired elongate shape such that when the distal end is withdrawn towards the proximal end internally of the inflatable element, the inflatable element decreases in length while maintaining the pre-set elongate shape to remove shear forces from the inflatable element. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre-set shape includes any suitable elongate shape including a hook-like, straight bent, spiral or semi-circle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device includes an inflation tube at or near the proximal end of the inflatable element through which inflating fluid may be introduced into the inflatable element. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 3, wherein the elongate member extends through the proximal end of the inflatable element and through the inflation tube. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 3, wherein the inflatable element and the inflation tube are integrally manufactured. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) An inflatable insertion device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongate tube has a varying diameter along its length. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) An inflatable insertion device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inflatable element is capable of resisting pressures within the range from about 5 bar up to about 50 bar. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongate member is capable of withdrawing the entire inflatable element through the proximal end thereof. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongate member and the inflatable element are manufactured integrally. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongate member is manufactured from linen, hemp, silk, nylon, vectran or prolene. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1 wherein the elongate member is secured to the distal end of the inflatable element by means of an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, thermal bonding, or by forming a knot about a portion of the inflatable element material. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) A system for delivery of a medical implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inflatable element is manufactured from heat shrink materials selected from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in particular, polyolefin, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), perfluoroalkoxy (PFA), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), polyester, polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or combinations thereof. ### Claim 13 An inflatable insertion device capable of being percutaneously introduced into a patient's body, the device comprising an inflatable element in the form of a small diameter elongate tube having a distal end and a proximal end and being operable between a collapsed condition and an inflated condition, wherein an elastic elongate member extends internally of the inflatable element from the distal end thereof and which is capable of being withdrawn towards the proximal end of the inflatable element to result in the distal end being withdrawn towards the proximal end internally of the inflatable element, and wherein the entire inflatable element is a non-compliant inflatable element and pre-set to a desired elongate shape so as to adopt the pre-set elongate shape when inflated, and wherein the elongate member is more flexible than the inflatable element when inflated to its pre-set desired elongate shape such that when the distal end is withdrawn towards the proximal end internally of the inflatable element to enable withdrawal of the inflatable element when in the inflated condition without causing it to deform.