US 7,069,634 B1Granted

Method for manufacturing a catheter

AssigneeMedtronic, Inc.

InventorDennis D. Elsberry

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Abstract

An intraparenchymal infusion catheter system for delivering drugs or other agents to selected sites in an organism, such as a human, includes a pump that may be implanted or disposed outside the organism. A catheter is coupled to the pump. The catheter comprises a flexible biocompatible tubular portion terminating in a free distal end. The distal end of the catheter bears a rounded tip, a portion of which is slidably disposed within the lumen of the tubular portion. The tip is porous for discharging an agent or drug to a selected site. The tip has a microporosity of less than or equal to 0.22 microns. The tubular portion is composed from a material that will expand from its nominal size when exposed to a stimulus such as heat or a solvent and return to its nominal size when the stimulus is withdrawn. By expanding the tubular portion, a physician can select the amount of the tip that is exposed to the organism, thereby customizing the catheter to the structural size of the selected site within the body.

Claims1

Dependent claims

A method of manufacturing a catheter comprising the steps of:

a) forming a first tubular portion of a relatively impermeable material, the first tubular portion formed having a lumen;
b) forming a second tubular portion of a porous material;
c) partially disposing the second tubular portion within the lumen so that a portion of the first tubular portion overlaps the second tubular portion;
d) adjusting the length of the second tubular portion to conform to the dimensions of a selected site in an organism, comprising the steps of:
i) heating the first tubular portion until the diameter of the lumen increases in diameter a sufficient amount to enable relative sliding movement between the first tubular portion and the second tubular portion;
ii) sliding the second tubular portion in the lumen relative to the first tubular portion to provide a preselected length of the second tubular portion that extends distally beyond the distal end of the first tubular portion;
and
iii) cooling the first tubular portion until the first tubular portion and the second tubular portion are no longer capable of relative sliding movement;
and
e) establishing a near zero tolerance fit between the second tubular portion and the portion of the first tubular portion that overlaps the second tubular portion.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/512,777Filed 24 Feb 2000 · division
Priority: 28 Apr 1995
Granted: 4 Jul 2006
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

A61M 25/0068
Characterised by the distal end, e.g. tips: static characteristics of the catheter tip, e.g. shape, atraumatic tip, curved tip or tip structure
A61M 25/001
Making of catheters or other medical or surgical tubes: forming the tip of a catheter, e.g. bevelling process, join or taper
A61M 25/0069
Static characteristics of the catheter tip, e.g. shape, atraumatic tip, curved tip or tip structure: tip not integral with tube
A61M 2025/0057
Characterised by structural features: catheters delivering medicament other than through a conventional lumen, e.g. porous walls or hydrogel coatings

Family

Application08/430,960Parent of this division · filed 28 Apr 1995
Application08/782,551Parent of this division · filed 10 Jan 1997
Application08/912,379Parent of this division · filed 18 Aug 1997
US 6,093,180 AParent of this division
US 7,069,634 B1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.