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 includes 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 including 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 include 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 include 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 configured to be disposed inside an outer catheter to advance and maneuver the catheter system through a patient's vasculature. The transporter catheter includes a shaft with a proximal portion and a distal portion, and at least one distal anchor formed on the distal portion. The at least one anchor is selected from an inflatable balloon or a mechanical connector and is capable of engaging a wall of the outer catheter to form a catheter system with the transporter catheter inside the outer catheter.

The transporter catheter is configured to be pushed and/or torqued to advance and maneuver the catheter system. The anchors are configured to apply a pull force on the outer catheter when the transporter catheter is pushed and/or torqued. The pull force includes a first component that pulls the outer catheter towards a desired location in the patient's vasculature and a second component that pulls the wall of the outer catheter away from a wall of the patient's vasculature.

Additional embodiments include a shaft with a varying degree of stiffness with the degree of stiffness at the proximal portion greater than the degree of stiffness at the distal portion. The transporter catheter can further include a radio-opaque marker on at least a distal portion, at least one internal channel for a guidewire, an orienting balloon at a distal end with at least a portion protruding outside a distal end of the outer catheter, and steerability using at least one pull-wire disposed longitudinally along a length of the transporter catheter.

Claims Coverage

The document provides three independent claims, all directed to a transporter catheter having a proximal/distal shaft, at least one distal anchor engaging an outer catheter wall, and the generation of a pull force on the outer catheter with two specified pull-force components. The independent claims further add select structural features including varying stiffness, a radio-opaque marker, an internal guidewire channel, and steerability via longitudinal pull-wires.

Across the independent claims, the core claimed coverage centers on a transporter catheter with a distal inflatable balloon or mechanical connector anchor that engages an outer catheter wall and generates a pull force having two components: pulling the outer catheter toward a desired location and pulling the outer catheter wall away from the patient's vessel wall. The independent claims further specify additional features including proximal-greater varying stiffness and a radio-opaque marker, or an internal guidewire channel, and steerability via at least one longitudinal pull-wire.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications