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AssigneeVitaphore Corporation
InventorsRonald K. Yamamoto, Sophia Pesotchinsky
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This invention is a sleeve-like tissue-interface device designed to reduce the incidence of nosocomial infection related to percutaneous conduits by promoting a tissue seal where the conduit and skin interface, and by the expression of antibacterial activity to reduce the possibility of bacteria advancing along the conduit into deeper tissues. In particular, the positionability of the invention allows it to be placed onto a catheter-like device, in the dermal and subcutaneous tissue below the catheter exit site, although this position relative to catheter length is variable at different anatomical sites, and from patient to patient. The positionability feature also allows the invention to be used in conjunction with existing percutaneous access devices such as catheters and wound drains, as an optional measure against bacterial infection.
An implantable device for providing a circumferential bacterial seal and sutureless tissue fixation to a percutaneous conduit of known outside diameter, comprising a distensible elastomeric sleeve having a relaxed inside diameter smaller than said known diameter, and having sufficient resiliency to enable forcible expansion of the inside diameter so the sleeve can be moved along the conduit into an implanted intracorporeal position beneath a skin exit site at any desired longitudinal position along the conduit, the resiliency of the sleeve providing a restoring force sufficient to place the sleeve in frictional gripping contact with the conduit at said position when the expanding force is removed, the sleeve being formed of a tissue-compatible material and having an outer surface which promotes tissue ingrowth.
A method for establishing a percutaneous tissue interface on a percutaneously inserted conduit comprising the steps of:
The combination comprising a percutaneously inserted conduit having an intracorporeal portion extending beneath a skin exit site, and an elastomeric sleeve in resiliently gripping engagement around the intracorporeal portion of the conduit and resisting longitudinal movement along the conduit, the sleeve being sufficiently elastic to enable forced dilation so the sleeve can be enlarged in inside diameter and slipped along the conduit to a desired subcutaneous position after conduit implantation, the sleeve having an outer surface which promotes tissue ingrowth.
An implantable device for fixation of an implanted percutaneous conduit such as a catheter and having a known outside diameter, the device comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.