Methods and systems for treating a pulmonary embolism

Inventors

Buck, Michael • Fox, Julia • Jacobs, James

Assignees

Imperative Care Inc

Abstract

A large bore catheter has a guiding rail extending therethrough and an advance segment of the rail extends at least about 10 cm beyond the distal end of the catheter. The advance segment is advanced from the vena cava through the tricuspid and pulmonary valves of the heart into the central pulmonary artery while the distal end of the large bore catheter remains in the vena cava. The large bore catheter is thereafter distally advanced over the rail until the large bore catheter distal end is at least as far as the central pulmonary artery. The rail is thereafter proximally removed from the large bore catheter, and at least a portion of a clot is drawn from a pulmonary artery into the large bore catheter.

Core Innovation

The invention provides a method of treating a pulmonary embolism using a large bore catheter having a guiding rail extending therethrough. The large bore catheter has a large bore catheter distal end and the rail has a rail distal end, with the rail distal end positioned at least about 10 cm distal to the large bore catheter distal end. The rail distal end is advanced from a vena cava through tricuspid and pulmonary valves of a heart and into a central pulmonary artery while the distal end of the large bore catheter remains in the vena cava.

After the rail distal end reaches the central pulmonary artery, the large bore catheter is advanced over the rail until the large bore catheter distal end is at least as far as the central pulmonary artery. The rail is proximally removed from the large bore catheter. Thereafter, at least a portion of a clot from a pulmonary artery is drawn into the large bore catheter.

The disclosure further relates to integrating a supporting rail/catheter system with hemostasis valve functionality, rail and catheter locking at a hub, and delivering the rail/catheter along a delivery pathway that traverses the vena cava, tricuspid, and pulmonary valves. It also includes clot capture and thrombus engagement structures, optionally including aspiration and vacuum-based clot drawing, and sensing/characterization catheter modalities directed to distinguishing clot versus vessel wall.

Claims Coverage

The partial content identifies one independent claim directed to a complete pulmonary embolism treatment method. The inventive coverage centers on the rail advancing through the vena cava and heart valves while the catheter distal end remains in the vena cava, followed by catheter advancement, rail removal, and clot drawing.

The claim coverage combines catheter-and-rail positioning across the vena cava and heart valves with subsequent catheter advancement, rail removal, and clot drawing into the large bore catheter.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found