Expandable, asymetric structures for deployment in interior body regions

A device for deployment into an interior body region comprising

• a catheter tube having a first diameter,
• a structure carried by the catheter tube comprising a body adapted to assume a collapsed geometry for deployment into the interior body region and an expanded geometry for use within the interior body region, the expanded geometry having a second diameter greater than the first diameter along an effective length L1, the body including spaced apart end regions separated along an entire length L2, and at least one of the end regions providing a non-conical diameter transition between the first and second diameters to minimize difference between the effective length L1 and the entire length L2.

A device for deployment into an interior body region comprising

• a first catheter tube having a distal end,
• a second catheter tube extending beyond the distal end, the second catheter tube being slidable within the first catheter tube, and
• a structure carried by the first and second catheter tubes and comprising a body adapted to assume a collapsed geometry for deployment into the interior body region and an expanded geometry along an effective length L1 for use within the interior body region, the body included a first end region secured to the first catheter tube and a second end region secured to the second catheter tube, the first and second end regions being separated by an entire length L2, whereby sliding the second catheter tube to move the second end region toward the first end region inverts the first and second end regions about the respective first and second catheter tubes to minimize difference between the effective length L1 and the entire length L2.

A device for deployment into an interior body region comprising

• a first catheter tube having a distal end, the first catheter tube being formed from a first material,
• a second catheter tube extending beyond the distal end, the second catheter tube being formed from a second material which is more compliant than the first material, and
• a structure carried by the first and second catheter tubes comprising a body adapted to assume a collapsed geometry for deployment into the interior body region and an expanded geometry for use within the interior body region, the body included a first end region secured to the first catheter tube and a second end region secured to the second catheter tube, the body being formed from a material more compliant than the first material.

A method for entering a bone having cortical bone surrounding an interior volume occupied, at least in part, by cancellous bone, the interior volume being generally aligned with a natural generally linear axis, the method comprising the steps of

• forming an access passage into the interior volume along a first generally linear axis that is not aligned with the natural generally linear axis,
• introducing into the interior volume through the access passage an expandable structure while in a generally collapsed geometry, and
• causing the expandable structure to assume an expanded geometry within the interior volume for compacting cancellous bone, the expanded geometry being oriented about a second generally linear axis offset from the first generally linear axis and more generally aligned with the natural generally linear axis than the first generally linear axis.