Enhanced flexibility neurovascular catheter

Inventors

Yourgenlow, Ashoor Shahbazi • Jansen, Lex Philip • Yee, Brandon • Blum, David • Yang, Yi • Doan, Hao

Assignees

Imperative Care Inc

Abstract

An enhanced flexibility catheter is provided, such as for distal neurovascular access or aspiration. The catheter includes an elongate flexible body, having a proximal end, a distal end, and a side wall defining a central lumen. The side wall is formed from a plurality of adjacent tubular segments. At least one segment has a first end face inclined at a non normal angle to a longitudinal axis of the catheter. An adjacent segment has a second end face inclined at a complementary angle to form an inclined junction at the transition between the two segments. The transition serves to provide superior bending characteristics along the length of the catheter shaft.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to an enhanced flexibility catheter comprising an elongate flexible tubular body having a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis, a side wall defining a central lumen, and an outer jacket formed from a plurality of axially adjacent tubular segments. A distal end face of a first tubular segment and a proximal end face of a second tubular segment are positioned adjacent to each other to form an inclined junction between the first and second tubular segments.

The inclined junction extends along an entire circumference of at least one of the distal end face or the proximal end face and entirely resides on a plane inclined at a non-normal angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the elongate flexible tubular body. The construction enables a seamless transition between the axially adjacent tubular segments and improves bending characteristics by creating a transition geometry that is not normal to the longitudinal axis.

In further disclosed forms, the distal transition architectures include reduced-thickness braid zone configurations and braid-to-coil transitions, along with optional distal transition connectors and covers for stiffness, flexibility, and kink resistance. The disclosed catheter construction also includes optional features such as proximal/distal durometer differences, an axially extending filament in the side wall extending at least about the most distal 10 cm, and tubular radiopaque marker arrangements.

Overall, the invention focuses on modifying the distal outer-jacket segment transition so that an inclined junction, residing on an inclined plane at a non-normal angle to the longitudinal axis and extending along an entire circumference, is used as the interface between adjacent tubular segments. This is supported by additional geometric constraints for junction location and angle, and by optional mechanical and material features that further tune flexural behavior and kink resistance for distal tortuous access and aspiration.

Claims Coverage

The document contains one independent claim. Across the claim set, the inventive coverage centers on an outer jacket made of axially adjacent tubular segments joined by an inclined junction that lies on a plane inclined at a non-normal angle to the longitudinal axis; dependent claims refine the inclined-junction geometry and add additional catheter construction features and property constraints.

The independent claim covers the geometry of an inclined circumferential junction between axially adjacent outer-jacket segments where the junction lies entirely on a plane inclined at a non-normal angle to the longitudinal axis. Dependent claims further constrain junction geometry and may add features including an axially extending filament, optional radiopaque marker arrangements, and quantitative durometer and construction constraints.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications