Multipurpose handles and medical snare or other devices incorporating them

A medical device, comprising:

• a handle including an elongate handle body having a cutout defining a movement space therein, the handle having a thumb wheel disposed within the cutout and movable within the cutout along a longitudinal axis of the handle and rotatable within the cutout;
• a sheath connected to the handle;
• a control rod connected to the thumb wheel and extending through a lumen of the sheath;
• a deployable and retractable snare capture structure connected to the control rod, the snare capture structure being deployable from and retractable into the lumen of the sheath by movement of the thumb wheel along the longitudinal axis, the snare capture structure further being rotatable by rotation of the thumb wheel;
• a locking member connected to the elongate handle body and movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the locking member restricting movement of the thumb wheel along the longitudinal axis when in the locked position;
• wherein the thumb wheel is configured for operation by a thumb of a hand of a user in a grip position gripping the elongate handle body;
• wherein the snare capture structure is deployable from and retractable into the lumen of the sheath by movement of the thumb wheel along the longitudinal axis by the thumb of the hand of the user in said grip position;
• wherein the handle also includes a seal element that maintains a seal against the control rod during movement of the thumb wheel along the longitudinal axis and during rotation of the thumb wheel, the seal element being configured to prevent passage of fluid from the lumen of the sheath into an interior space of the elongate handle body;
• and
• wherein the locking member is positioned on the elongate handle body so as to be accessible to and operable by a finger of the hand of the user in said grip position to move the locking member between the locked position and the unlocked position.

A medical snare device for retrieval of a medical implant from within a patient, comprising:

• a handle including an elongate handle body and an actuation button configured for operation by a thumb of a user, wherein the actuation button is movable along a longitudinal axis of the elongate handle body by a longitudinal movement of the thumb of the user while against the actuation button and is rotatable relative to the elongate handle body by a scrolling movement of the thumb of the user against the actuation button;
• a sheath connected to the handle, the sheath defining a lumen;
• a control rod connected to the actuation button so as to rotate with the actuation button, the control rod extending through the lumen of the sheath, the control rod having a longitudinal axis;
• a snare loop connected to the control rod so as to rotate with the control rod;
• a lock button connected to the elongate handle body and movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the lock button restricting movement of the actuation button along the longitudinal axis when in the locked position;
• wherein the snare loop is deployable from and retractable into the lumen of the sheath by movement of the actuation button along the longitudinal axis by the thumb of the user;
• wherein upon deployment from the sheath the snare loop extends at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the control rod to provide an angled snare loop;
• and
• wherein rotation of the actuation button by the thumb of the user is operable to rotate the angled snare loop to different radially positioned orientations for capturing a portion of the implanted medical device;
• and
• wherein the handle also includes a resilient polymeric seal structure configured to prevent fluid passage from the lumen of the sheath into interior spaces of the elongate handle body, wherein the control rod is frictionally translatable proximally and distally through and against the resilient polymeric seal structure by movement of the actuation button along the longitudinal axis and is frictionally rotatable within and against the resilient polymeric seal structure by rotation of the actuation button, while maintaining a seal between an outer surface of the control rod and the resilient polymeric seal structure.