Means to treat Alzheimer's disease via flushing of brain parenchyma
AssigneeMedtronic, Inc.
InventorJeffrey P. Bodner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An implantable glymphatic pump configured to flush metabolites from a brain parenchyma of a patient. The implantable glymphatic pump including at least one spinal catheter having a distal end configured to be positioned within an intrathecal space of a spine of a patient, at least one cranial catheter having a distal end configured to be positioned within a brain parenchyma of the patient, and an implantable pump configured to draw cerebrospinal fluid from the intrathecal space of the spine in the patient via the at least one spinal catheter, and reintroduce said cerebrospinal fluid to the brain parenchyma of the patient via the one or more cranial catheters to encourage a flow of the cerebrospinal fluid through the brain parenchyma.
Claims31
An implantable glymphatic pump comprising:
- at least one spinal catheter having a first distal end configured to be positioned within an intrathecal space of a spine of a patient;
- at least one intraparenchymal catheter having a second distal end configured to be positioned within a parenchymal tissue of the patient;
- and
- an implantable pump configured to draw cerebrospinal fluid from the intrathecal space of the spine in the patient via the at least one spinal catheter, and reintroduce the cerebrospinal fluid to the parenchymal tissue of the patient via the at least one intraparenchymal catheter to encourage a flow of the cerebrospinal fluid through the parenchymal tissue, wherein the implantable pump includes at least one physiological sensor configured to aid in a determination of a preferred operating time of the implantable pump, and wherein the preferred operating time of the implantable pump occurs during a sleep state of the patient.
An implantable glymphatic pump comprising:
- at least one spinal catheter having a distal end configured to be positioned within an intrathecal space of a spine of a patient;
- at least one cranial catheter having a distal end distal end configured to be positioned within a cranial cavity of the patient;
- and
- an implantable pump configured to draw cerebrospinal fluid from the intrathecal space of the spine in the patient via the at least one spinal catheter, and reintroduce said cerebrospinal fluid to the cranial cavity of the patient via the one or more cranial catheters to encourage a flow of the cerebrospinal fluid through a brain parenchyma of the patient, wherein the implantable pump includes at least one physiological sensor configured to aid in a determination of a preferred operating time of the implantable pump, wherein the preferred operating time of the implantable pump occurs during a sleep state of the patient.
An implantable glymphatic pump comprising:
- at least one spinal catheter having a first distal end configured to be positioned within an intrathecal space of a spine of a patient;
- at least one cranial catheter having a second distal end configured to be positioned within a cranial cavity of the patient;
- an implantable pump configured to draw cerebrospinal fluid from the intrathecal space of the spine in the patient via the at least one spinal catheter, and reintroduce said cerebrospinal fluid to the cranial cavity of the patient via the one or more cranial catheters to encourage a flow of the cerebrospinal fluid through a brain parenchyma of the patient, wherein the implantable pump includes a pressure sensor configured to sense a pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid reintroduced into the cranial cavity;
- and
- a processor configured to use data sensed by the pressure sensor to infer a porosity of the brain parenchyma as an aid in regulating a flow rate of the implantable pump.
A method of aiding a glymphatic system of a patient comprising:
- drawing cerebrospinal fluid with an implantable pump from an intrathecal space of a spine of the patient;
- pumping the cerebrospinal fluid through the implantable pump;
- reintroducing the cerebrospinal fluid into a brain parenchyma of the patient with the implantable pump to encourage a flow of the cerebrospinal fluid through the brain parenchyma as an aid in flushing metabolites from the brain parenchyma of the patient;
- sensing, via a pressure sensor, a pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid reintroduced into the brain parenchyma;
- and
- inferring a porosity of the brain parenchyma from data sensed by the pressure sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.