Expandable introducer sheath for medical device
AssigneeABIOMED, Inc.
InventorChristopher Nason Korkuch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An expandable medical sheath can include a sheath body having a lumen that extends between proximal and distal ends of the sheath. The sheath can have first and second members where the first member has a different elastic modulus than the second member such that one provides elasticity to the sheath and the other provides column strength. The first and second members can be coupled together in alternating sections to form the tubular sheath or the stiffer members can be embedded in the elastic member along all or a portion of the longitudinal length of the sheath. The sheath can automatically move to an expanded state to allow a larger diameter medical device to pass through the lumen, and once through the sheath can automatically return to its initial diameter.
Claims20
An expandable sheath comprising:
- a sheath body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface defining a lumen that extends along a longitudinal axis between a proximal end and a distal end of the sheath body, the sheath body being comprised of:
- a first member extending between the proximal end and the distal end of the sheath body and forming the outer surface of the sheath body, the first member having an inner surface comprising a plurality of cavities extending parallel to the longitudinal axis between the proximal end and the distal end of the sheath body, and the first member comprising a first material having a first elastic modulus;
- a plurality of second members, each second member being at least partially encapsulated within a respective cavity of the plurality of cavities of the first member and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis between the proximal end and the distal end of the sheath body, and each second member comprising a second material having a second elastic modulus that is higher than the first elastic modulus;
- and
- a plurality of third members, each third member being at least partially encapsulated within a respective second member of the plurality of second members and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis between the proximal end and the distal end of the sheath body, and each third member comprising a third material having a third elastic modulus that is higher than the second elastic modulus,
- wherein the sheath body is configured to be radially expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state to allow passage of a portion of a medical device through the lumen, the portion of the medical device having a transverse cross-sectional area larger than a transverse cross-sectional area of the lumen when the sheath is in the unexpanded state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.