Tissue separation cannula and method
AssigneeOrigin Medsystems, Inc.
InventorAlbert K. Chin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cannula includes a tubular body having proximal closed end and distal blunt end, at least one lumen extending the length of the body, an endoscope having a lighted, viewing end disposed in the lumen near the distal end of the body, and a transparent, tissue separating member substantially covering the distal end of the body. The tissue separating member has a blunt tip disposed on the distal end of the body. A method of using such a cannula separates tissue to form an elongated cavity along the course of a small blood vessel and subsequently harvesting the blood vessel.
Claims17
A method for forming an elongated cavity in tissue along the course of a vessel using an endoscope, a cannula having a transparent distal tip and a balloon located entirely proximally to the distal tip of the cannula and attached thereto, the method comprising the steps of:
- forming an incision to expose the vessel;
- advancing the tip of the cannula along the vessel to separate tissue therefrom under continuous visual observation through the tip to form a cavity;
- repeating the prior step of separating the tissue to elongate the cavity for receiving the balloon in deflated condition therein;
- and
- retracting the cannula and selectively inflating and deflating the balloon within the cavity to expand the cavity along the vessel.
A method for forming an elongated cavity in tissue along the course of a vessel using an endoscope, a cannula having a transparent distal tip and a balloon located entirely proximally to the distal tip of the cannula and attached thereto, the method comprising the steps of:
- forming an incision to expose the vessel;
- advancing the tip of the cannula along the vessel to separate tissue therefrom in direct contact with the tip under continuous visual observation through the tip to form a cavity;
- repeating the step of advancing the cannula along the cavity until a substantial portion of the cavity is elongated;
- retracting the cannula partially within the elongated cavity;
- selectively inflating and deflating the balloon within the elongated cavity to expand the dimension of the elongated cavity along at least a portion of the elongated length thereof;
- and
- repeating the steps of partially retracting the cannula and selectively inflating and deflating the balloon within the elongated cavity until the dimension of the entire elongated cavity is expanded.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.