Inverting capture apparatuses having material depots
AssigneeStryker Corporation
InventorsMichael P. Wallace, E. Skott Greenhalgh, Jayson Delos Santos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Inverting tube apparatuses and methods of using same for removing large amounts of material from a body lumen. The apparatuses and methods described herein may use a depot for holding, in a compressed configuration, a length of the flexible tube configured to invert over the distal end of an inversion support catheter to capture material within a body lumen. The depot is configured to facilitate the release of the flexible tube with a low release force, and in a manner that prevents snagging or binding of the flexible tube either on the body of the catheter or when rolling and inverting into the inversion support catheter.
Claims20
An apparatus for removing a material from a body lumen, the apparatus comprising:
- an elongate inversion support catheter having a proximal end region, a distal end region, and a distal end opening;
- an elongate puller extending within the inversion support catheter;
- a flexible tube having a distal first end attached to the puller, wherein the flexible tube extends over an outer surface of the inversion support catheter and is configured to invert into the distal end opening of the inversion support catheter when the puller is pulled proximally;
- and
- a depot movably coupled to the proximal end region of the inversion support catheter, the depot comprising an inner storage region, wherein a proximal portion of the flexible tube is held compressed within the inner storage region in a folded configuration that is configured to unfurl out of a distal end opening of the depot, move distally from the depot along the outer surface of the inversion support catheter, and invert into the distal opening of the inversion support catheter when the puller is pulled proximally within the inversion support catheter.
An apparatus for removing a material from a body lumen, the apparatus comprising:
- an elongate inversion support catheter having a proximal end region, a distal end region, and a distal end opening;
- an elongate puller extending within the inversion support catheter;
- a flexible tube having a distal first end attached to the puller, wherein the flexible tube extends over an outer surface of the inversion support catheter and is configured to invert into the distal end opening of the inversion support catheter when the puller is pulled proximally;
- a depot slidably coupled to the proximal end region of the inversion support catheter, the depot comprising an inner storage region, wherein a proximal portion of the flexible tube is held compressed within the inner storage region in a fanfold configuration, and is configured to unfurl out of a distal end opening of the depot, move distally from the depot along the outer surface of the inversion support catheter, and invert into the distal opening of the inversion support catheter when the puller is pulled proximally within the inversion support catheter;
- and
- a distal guide forming the distal end opening of the depot, wherein the distal guide is configured to engage with an introducer sheath, and to guide the flexible tube out of the depot as the flexible tube is unfurled.
A method of removing a clot from a blood vessel, the method comprising:
- advancing an inverting tube apparatus through the blood vessel until a distal end portion of the inverting tube apparatus is located proximate to the clot, wherein the inverting tube apparatus comprises an inversion support catheter having an elongate and flexible catheter body, a puller within a lumen of the inversion support catheter, and a flexible tube coupled at a distal end to the puller, the flexible tube extending over an exterior surface of the inversion support catheter, wherein the flexible tube is held compressed within an inner storage region of a depot on a proximal end region of the inversion support catheter;
- pulling the puller proximally to thereby roll the flexible tube over a distal end opening of the inversion support catheter so that the flexible tube captures the clot and pulls the clot proximally into the lumen of the inversion support catheter;
- wherein pulling the puller proximally draws the flexible tube from out of the depot so that the flexible tube unfurls distally from a compressed fanfold configuration within the depot and moves distally from the depot along the outer surface of the inversion support catheter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.