Insertable medical device system with plaque treatment portion and methods of using

Inventors

Olson, Charlie

Assignees

Surmodics Inc

Abstract

The disclosure provides plaque treatment catheter assemblies for the treatment of arterial plaques and removal of clots. One assembly includes a second catheter tube movable within a first catheter tube, and an expansion member movable within the second tube. The second catheter tube has one or more distally-disposed and outwardly-expandable plaque treatment portion(s). Another assembly includes a catheter tube and at least one channel(s) within the catheter. The channel includes an elongate member with a distally-disposed plaque scoring or clot retrieval member. Optionally, the assembly includes an expandable member that can cause movement of the scoring member.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to an insertable plaque treatment catheter assembly for treating arterial plaques and/or clots within vasculature. The assembly includes a catheter tube with an inner and outer diameter defining a lumen and a catheter wall, where one or more channels extend from proximal to distal end in the catheter wall and are parallel to a catheter tube axis. The catheter tube is configured to be inserted within a vasculature and to carry within the catheter wall elongate members that extend between proximal and distal portions.

An elongate member has a distal portion that comprises a plaque scoring member or a clot retrieval member, and a proximal portion configured to move within the one or more channels. The assembly further includes an expandable member that is movable within and out of the lumen of the catheter tube, where the expandable member can be expanded to cause movement of the one or more plaque scoring member(s) or the one or more clot retrieval member(s). This expansion-driven movement links a lumen-deployed expandable member to distal plaque treatment elements through the channels.

The disclosure also characterizes embodiments of the plaque treatment portion and related configurations, including a distal plaque-treatment portion that expands outward using an internal expansion member to press scoring and/or drug-delivery elements against plaque. The plaque scoring member or clot retrieval member distal portions are described in various forms such as rails, helical scoring members, spikes/barbs/posts, loop-shaped scoring elements, and mesh/grid-like structures, and the system is presented with treatment methods that include mechanical scoring and optional bioactive or drug delivery.

Claims Coverage

The provided independent claims include one independent claim directed to a plaque treatment catheter assembly. The inventive features are centered on a catheter tube with axially extending channels, an elongate member carrying a distal plaque scoring or clot retrieval portion, and an expandable member that expands within and out of the catheter lumen to drive movement of the distal treatment portion.

Overall claim coverage centers on an assembly in which a catheter tube contains axially extending channels that guide an elongate member carrying a distal plaque scoring member or a clot retrieval member, and an expandable member expanding within the lumen drives movement of those distal plaque-treatment elements.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications