Radial coil expandable medical wire

#The invention generally relates to deployable medical devices for insertion into anatomical lumens.

#Blockages and obstructions can develop in certain areas of the body, such as in the kidneys, pancreas, esophagus, and gallbladder. Minimally invasive medical procedures generally cause limited trauma to the tissue of a patient and can be used to eliminate problematic obstructions. Lithotripsy and ureteroscopy, for example, are used to treat urinary calculi, e.g., kidney stones, in the ureter of patients.

#Lithotripsy is a medical procedure that uses energy in various forms, such as acoustic or electrical shock waves, pneumatic or hydraulic pulsation, or laser beams, to break up biological concretions, such as urinary calculi. The force of the energy, when applied either extracorporeally or intracorporeally, usually in focused and continuous or successive bursts, comminutes a kidney stone into smaller fragments that may be extracted from the body or allowed to pass through urination. With the help of imaging tools, such as transureteroscopic video technology and fluoroscopic imaging, the operator of the lithotripter device can monitor the progress of the medical procedure and terminate treatment when residual fragments are small enough to be voided or removed. Examples of such obstructions and the effects of treatment can be found in the published patent application US 2001/0031971, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

#In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. Also, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1A is a partially sectioned schematic view of one embodiment of a medical device in accordance with the invention;

#FIG. 1B is another partially sectioned schematic view of the medical device of FIG. 1A, with a sleeve in a substantially linear configuration;

#Embodiments of the present invention are described below. The invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications to the disclosed embodiments are also encompassed by the invention. A medical device according to the invention can be used to entrain biological and/or foreign material during a medical procedure. The medical procedure can involve the fragmentation of the material. The device can also be used to remove the material and/or fragments of the material safely from the body. In addition, the device can be used as a self-anchoring guide wire.

#FIGS. 1A and 1B depict a medical device 100 in accordance with the invention in two different configurations. The medical device 100 includes an elongate sleeve 104 and an elongate core 102. The sleeve 104 includes a lumen 106 that extends longitudinally within at least a portion of the sleeve 104, a distal end 112, and a proximal end 114. In one embodiment the sleeve includes an outer wall 103 and an inner wall 105. The core 102 is adapted to be disposed within the lumen 106 of the sleeve 104. At least a portion 110 of the sleeve 104 is adapted to form a plurality of coils 108 disposed in a conical shape when the core 102 is removed from a section of the lumen 106 that extends through the plurality of coils 108 (FIG. 1A). The plurality of coils 108 are straightened and the sleeve 104 assumes a substantially linear configuration when the core 102 is inserted within the section of the lumen 106 extending through the plurality of coils 108 (FIG. 1B). The proximal end 118 of the plurality of coils 108 is located a predetermined distance 116 from the proximal end 114 of the sleeve. The medical device 100 is configured to support the treatment and/or removal of foreign objects and organic material, e.g., blood clots, tissue, and biological obstructions, such as urinary, biliary, and pancreatic stones, from an anatomical lumen.

#The sleeve 104 is constructed, at least in part, of a shape-memory material that enables the sleeve 104 to assume a coiled configuration forming a conical shape when the core 102 is removed from the section of the lumen 106 extending through the plurality of coils 108. The shape-memory material of the sleeve 106 also enables the plurality of coils 108 to assume a substantially linear configuration when the core 102 is extended through the section of the lumen 106 extending through the plurality of coils 108, as shown in FIG. 1B, without significantly affecting the ability of the sleeve 104 to revert back into the coiled configuration when the core 102 is removed from the section of the lumen 106 extending through the plurality of coils 108.