Cerebrospinal fluid purification system

Inventors

Lad, Shivanand • Mobley, William C. • Nikolich, Karoly • Saul, Thomas

Assignees

Neurofluidics Inc

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and systems for conditioning cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by removing target compounds from CSF. The systems provide for a catheter flow path and exchange of a majority volume portion of CSF in the CSF space. The removal and/or delivery of specific compounds can be tailored to the pathology of the specific disease. The removal is targeted and specific, for example, through the use of specific size-exclusion thresholds, antibodies against specific toxins, and other chromatographic techniques, as well as delivery and/or removal of targeted therapeutic agents.

Core Innovation

A method is provided for ameliorating a symptom of multiple sclerosis by selecting a patient having a symptom of multiple sclerosis, removing cerebrospinal fluid from a first location in a lumbar cerebrospinal fluid space, removing a causative agent from the removed cerebrospinal fluid thereby conditioning the cerebrospinal fluid, and returning the conditioned cerebrospinal fluid to a second location in a cervical cerebrospinal fluid space, a thoracic cerebrospinal fluid space, or a ventricle of the patient. The returned cerebrospinal fluid is returned at substantially the same flow rate at which it is removed, and the removing and returning steps are performed concurrently using one or more catheters, each catheter comprising one or more lumens.

The approach is further defined by performing removal and return concurrently using one or more multi-lumen catheters, while conditioning is achieved by removing a causative agent from the removed cerebrospinal fluid. Dependent refinements specify that flow directions of removing and returning are periodically reversed during at least a portion of the treatment, and that mixing may involve turbulence with endogenous cerebrospinal fluid as part of the process conceptually associated with the concurrent catheter arrangement.

The same core platform is also recited for ameliorating symptoms of Guillain Barre Syndrome, by selecting a patient having a symptom of Guillain Barre Syndrome, removing cerebrospinal fluid from a first location in a lumbar cerebrospinal fluid space, removing a causative agent from the removed cerebrospinal fluid thereby conditioning the cerebrospinal fluid, and returning the conditioned cerebrospinal fluid to a second location in a cervical cerebrospinal fluid space, a thoracic cerebrospinal fluid space, or a ventricle. The conditioned cerebrospinal fluid is returned at substantially the same flow rate at which it is removed, with the removing and returning steps performed concurrently using one or more catheters, each catheter comprising one or more lumens.

Claims Coverage

The provided content includes two independent claims: one directed to ameliorating a symptom of multiple sclerosis and one directed to ameliorating a symptom of Guillain Barre Syndrome. Across these independent claims, the core inventive structure is removing CSF from a lumbar location, conditioning it by removing a causative agent, and returning the conditioned CSF to a cervical/thoracic/ventricular location concurrently using one or more multi-lumen catheters while maintaining substantially the same flow rate.

Both independent claims share the same core claim coverage: select a patient, remove CSF from a lumbar cerebrospinal fluid space, condition the removed CSF by removing a causative agent, and return the conditioned CSF to a cervical/thoracic/ventricular space at substantially the same flow rate while performing removal and return concurrently using one or more catheters each comprising one or more lumens. The independent claims differ only in the disease context, while dependent claim refinements further specify flow reversal and turbulence with endogenous cerebrospinal fluid.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications