# US 2010/0168783 A1 · Intragastric balloon retrieval mechanisms

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- Number: US 2010/0168783 A1
- Document ID: US20100168783A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 12/712,112
- Filed: 2010-02-24
- Published: 2010-07-01
- Earliest claimed: 2006-06-09
- Assignees: Allergan, Inc.
- Inventors: Diego Murature; Janel Birk; Frederick L. Coe; Robert E. Hoyt, JR.
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100168783A1

## CPC

- A61F 5/0089: {Instruments for placement or removal}
- A61B 17/22031: {Gripping instruments, e.g. forceps, for removing or smashing calculi (A61B17/221 takes precedence)}
- A61F 5/003: {inflatable}
- A61F 5/0036: {Intragastrical devices}
- A61B 17/22032: {having inflatable gripping elements (balloon catheters A61M25/10)}
- A61B 17/221: Gripping devices in the form of loops or baskets {for gripping calculi or similar types of obstructions (surgical snare instruments A61B17/32056)}
- A61B 17/3468: {for implanting or removing devices, e.g. prostheses, implants, seeds, wires (devices for implanting seeds A61M37/0069)}
- A61B 17/3478: {Endoscopic needles, e.g. for infusion (biopsy needles A61B10/0233; catheters with injection needles A61M25/0067)}
- A61B 2017/22034: {for gripping the obstruction or the tissue part from inside}
- A61B 2017/22035: {for retrieving or repositioning foreign objects}
- A61B 2017/2217: {single wire changing shape to a gripping configuration}
- A61M 2025/1054: {having detachable or disposable balloons}
- A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C)
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)}

## Abstract

A mechanism for removing a fluid-filled object from a patient. The apparatus includes a deflation tube with a puncture member at one end of the tube for piercing a hole in the object wall. The apparatus includes a retrieval mechanism slidable within the deflation tube lumen. The retrieval mechanism includes an expansion element that is expandable when positioned within the object from a first configuration with a dimension less than that of the deflation tube lumen to a second or deployed configuration with a dimension that is greater than an outer dimension of the puncture member. The expansion element contacts an inner surface of the inflatable object as the deflation tube and retrieval mechanism are withdrawn from the body cavity. The expansion element may be a T-bar, a foldable anchor, an inflatable member, or another expandable form.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for evacuating and removing a fluid-filled object positioned in a body cavity of a patient, comprising:
positioning an aspirator device in the body cavity;
piercing a wall of the fluid-filled object with the aspirator device, wherein the aspirator device comprises a tube with a lumen;
sliding a retrieval mechanism in the lumen of the aspirator tube, wherein the retrieval mechanism comprises an expansion element having a deployed configuration greater in size than an outer diameter of the aspirator tube and wherein the sliding comprises extending the expansion element at least partially out of the lumen and into the pierced object;
expanding the expansion element to the deployed configuration; and
withdrawing the retrieval mechanism and the aspirator device from the body cavity, wherein during the withdrawing the expansion element contacts an inner surface of the object wall forcing the object to be removed from the body cavity with the retrieval mechanism.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieval mechanism comprises a flexible deployment member attached to the expansion element, and the method further comprises prior to the withdrawing, applying tension on the deployment member to force the expansion member to abut a tip fixed on the aspirator tube.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the applying of the tension results in the expanding of the expansion element to the deployed configuration.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the applying of the tension causes the expansion element to contact the inner surface of the object wall and to sandwich a portion of the wall between the expansion element and the tip of the aspirator tube.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the expansion element is selected from the group consisting of a T-bar, an object inflated in the expanding of the expansion element, a folding anchor device that unfolds to the deployed configuration, a spring element that returns to an at-rest position during the expanding of the expansion element, an elongate body with tabs attached at opposite ends, a tubular body with slits cut in a spaced-apart manner, parallel to a longitudinal axis of the tubular body and with a tensioning wire attached to an end of tubular body, and a funnel collapsible into a cylinder and expandable into a frustaconical shape in the deployed configuration.