# US 2018/0021156 A1 · Varying diameter vascular implant and balloon > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0021156 A1 - Document ID: US20180021156A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/721,152 - Filed: 2017-09-29 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2000-03-27 - Assignees: Neovasc Medical Ltd. - Applicants: Neovasc Medical Ltd. - Inventors: Shmuel BEN-MUVHAR; Ilan SHALEV; Jonathan TSEHORI; Nissim DARVISH - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180021156A1 ## CPC - A61F 2/958: Inflatable balloons for placing stents or stent-grafts - A61F 2250/0039: differing in diameter - A61M 25/1002: {characterised by balloon shape (A61M25/1006, A61M25/1009 take precedence)} - 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) - 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 method for deploying an expandable implant in a body passage of varying diameter includes selecting a balloon having a radial dimension that varies, when the balloon is inflated, in accordance with the varying diameter of the body passage. The balloon is inserted, in a deflated state, into the body passage, with the expandable implant fitted radially around the balloon. The balloon is inflated so as to cause the implant to open, responsively to the varying radial dimension of the balloon, into an expanded shape that approximately matches the varying diameter of the body passage, thus anchoring the implant in the body passage. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for deploying an expandable implant in a body passage of varying diameter, the method comprising: selecting a balloon having a radial dimension that varies, when the balloon is inflated, in accordance with the varying diameter of the body passage; inserting the balloon, in a deflated state, into the body passage, with the expandable implant fitted radially around the balloon; and inflating the balloon so as to cause the implant to open, responsively to the varying radial dimension of the balloon, into an expanded shape that approximately matches the varying diameter of the body passage, thus anchoring the implant in the body passage. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein inserting the balloon comprises attaching the balloon to a catheter and passing the balloon into the body passage using the catheter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method according to claim 2, wherein the body passage is a coronary sinus of a patient, and wherein passing the balloon comprises: guiding the catheter through a vascular path into a right atrium of the patient; and steering the catheter within the right atrium so as to position the balloon and the implant in the coronary sinus. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected balloon has distal and proximal ends, and wherein the radial dimension of the distal end is substantially smaller than the radial dimension of the proximal end. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method according to claim 4, wherein the selected balloon has a generally conical profile. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method according to claim 4, wherein the selected balloon comprises a proximal segment having a first diameter and a distal segment having a second diameter, which is substantially smaller than the first diameter. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the segments terminates in a bulb, having a third diameter that is greater than the diameter of the at least one of the segments. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method according to claim 6, wherein the selected balloon comprises a neck intermediate the proximal and distal segments, the neck having a third diameter that is less than the second diameter. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The method according to claim 6, wherein the balloon has an axis, and wherein an outer wall of at least one of the proximal and distal segments is sloped relative to the axis. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, and comprising: deflating the balloon after the implant has opened; drawing the deflated balloon in a distal direction into a tubular accessory; and withdrawing the accessory, containing the balloon, from the body passage. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein drawing the deflated balloon in the distal direction comprises widening a distal end of the tubular accessory in order to receive the balloon. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein selecting the balloon comprises measuring the diameter of the body passage at multiple points along the passage, and choosing the balloon from among a selection of available balloons, so as to fit the radial dimension of the balloon to the measured diameter of the body passage. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein the body passage is a coronary sinus of a patient, and wherein choosing the balloon comprises fitting the balloon to a widening region of the coronary sinus adjacent to a right atrium of the patient. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the body passage is a coronary sinus of a patient, and wherein the implant comprises a constriction, and wherein inflating the balloon comprises expanding the implant to match the varying diameter of the coronary sinus except at the constriction, so as to inhibit a flow of blood through the coronary sinus. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the implant has a form that matches the varying diameter of the body passage, and wherein the balloon is matched to the form of the implant. ### Claim 16 Apparatus for treatment of a body passage of varying diameter, the apparatus comprising: a balloon, having a radial dimension that varies, when the balloon is inflated, in accordance with the varying diameter of the body passage; and an expandable implant, fitted radially around the balloon, so that when the balloon is inflated within the body passage, the implant opens, responsively to the varying radial dimension of the balloon, into an expanded shape that approximately matches the varying diameter of the body passage, thus anchoring the implant in the body passage. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The apparatus according to claim 16, and comprising a catheter, which is adapted to deploy the balloon and implant in the body passage. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the body passage is a coronary sinus of a patient, and wherein the catheter is adapted to be guided through a vascular path into a right atrium of the patient and to be steered within the right atrium, so as to position the balloon and the implant in the coronary sinus. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the balloon has distal and proximal ends, and wherein the radial dimension of the distal end is substantially smaller than the radial dimension of the proximal end. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the balloon has a generally conical profile.