Apparatus and method for advancing catheters or other medical devices through a lumen

Inventors

Sardesai, Rajendra Gurudas • PANCHOLY, SAMIR BIPIN • Patel, Tejas Madhusudan

Assignees

Vasoinnovations Inc

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed that help deliver catheters or other medical devices to locations within a patient's body. The device comprises a transporter catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, at least a first balloon located at the distal end, substantially at a tip of the transporter catheter, and at least a second balloon located between the distal end and the proximal end of the transporter catheter. The first balloon is an orienting balloon and the second balloon is an anchor balloon. The transporter catheter may include a single lumen or more than one lumen. The transporter catheter may include a shaft comprising an inner layer and an outer layer, the inner layer may be made of a material more flexible than the material of the outer layer. The outer layer may also comprise a braided-wire assembly, said braided-wire assembly being formed by braiding a plurality of flat wires or circular wires. The braided-wire assembly may wrap around the inner layer. The transporter catheter may comprise a shaft that may include a plurality of segments of varying degrees of hardness. The degree of hardness of the segment of the shaft of the transporter catheter located between the first balloon and the second balloon may be less than the degree of hardness of the segment of the shaft between the second balloon and the proximal end of the catheter.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a transporter catheter system for advancing through a patient's vasculature in tortuous lumens. The system uses at least one orienting balloon positioned on the shaft adjacent to the distal end and configured to slidably engage an inner surface of a patient's vasculature when pressurized, and at least one anchoring balloon positioned on the shaft between the orienting balloon and the proximal end and configured to non-slidably engage and anchor the transporter catheter to an inner surface of an outer catheter when pressurized.

The shaft includes at least one lumen for a guidewire, and at least a portion of the guidewire lumen is configured not to constrict under pressure when the anchoring balloon is pressurized and when the orienting balloon is pressurized, whereby the transporter catheter is not locked to the guidewire. The outer catheter is configured to slidably engage a vessel wall as the transporter catheter is pushed and/or torqued to advance with both balloons pressurized for their respective engagement modes.

The catheter system further incorporates structural and functional features for maneuverability and torque transfer, including reinforcement to prevent constriction and locking under balloon pressure. Reinforcement includes a braided-wire assembly or plait matrix or a helical coil torque-transfer layer, and the shaft can include varying shaft hardness along segments to enhance maneuverability and kink resistance.

Additional embodiments include perfusion or flow lumens across balloons, optional steerability using pull-wires, steerable-guide catheter embodiments with deflecting mechanisms, balloon surface features such as serrations and raised projections for enhanced anchoring friction, imaging via radiopaque markers, and hydraulic advancement using a piston and a hydraulic fluid lumen.

Claims Coverage

The document provides coverage for three independent transporter-catheter claims, centered on balloon-based orientation and anchoring, maintaining a non-constricting guidewire lumen to avoid locking, and advancing the catheter while the outer catheter slidably engages the vessel wall. Dependent refinements include structural reinforcement for guidewire lumen regions, steering via pull-wires, separate balloon inflation and deflation lumens, torque-transfer layers, anchoring-friction structures, and radio-opaque visibility markers.

Across the independent claims, the core coverage is the combination of an orienting balloon for slidably engaging the patient vasculature, an anchoring balloon for non-slidably anchoring to an outer catheter, and maintaining a guidewire lumen that does not constrict under balloon pressure to avoid locking to the guidewire while the transporter catheter is pushed and/or torqued with both balloons pressurized. The claim set also supports dependent refinements that add guidewire lumen reinforcement, separate balloon inflation and deflation lumens, steering via pull-wires, torque-transfer layers, friction-based anchoring structures, and radio-opaque markers.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications