EP0418677A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
A steerable vascular catheter for maintaining the patency of a blood vessel
Assignee: Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc
•
Filing: 1990-09-07
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2010-09-07
Abstract
Abstract A steerable vascular catheter (10) having an expandable cage (12) mounted on the distal end of a tubular member (16) which is radially expanded and contracted by means of a guidewire (23) which is disposed within an inner lumen (17) in the tubular member (16) and secured to the distal end (15) of the expandable cage (12). A helical coil (24) is disposed about and secured to the distal portion (25) of the guidewire (23) which extends out the distal end (15) of the expandable cage (12) facilitate steering the catheter (10) through the patient's coronary anatomy. The catheter assembly is particularly adapted to hold open a blood vessel after a vascular procedure therein such as an angioplasty.
Inventors
- 👤 Timothy R. Machold
- 👤 Michi E. Garrison
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 06:52
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61F; A61F2/00; A61F2/95; A61F2/82; A61F2/86; A61F2/90; A61M; A61M29/00; A61M29/02; A61F2/9517; A61F2250/00; A61F2250/0058; A61F2250/0059; A61F2250/0096; A61F2250/0098
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
200 words
A steerable vascular catheter for maintaining the patency of a blood vessel over an extended period while allowing the perfusion of blood therethrough, comprising: a) an elongated catheter body having an inner lumen extending therethrough; b) an expandable cage formed from a plurality of spirally arranged strands secured to the distal end of the catheter body; c) a guiding member disposed within the inner lumen of the elongated catheter body having a distal portion extending through the interior of the expandable cage and out the distal end thereof with a flexible body disposed about the distal portion of the guiding member which extends out of the distal end of the expandable cage; d) means to secure the distal portion of the guiding member to the distal end of the expandable cage so as to prevent relative axial movement therebetween; e) means on the proximal end of the guiding member to axially rotate the guiding member to steer the distal portion which extends out the distal end of the expandable cage; and f) means to axially move the guiding member to adjust the spacing between the distal and proximal ends of the expandable cage and thereby change the radial dimensions thereof.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
200 words
A steerable vascular catheter for maintaining the patency of a blood vessel over an extended period while allowing the perfusion of blood therethrough, comprising: a) an elongated catheter body having an inner lumen extending therethrough; b) an expandable cage formed from a plurality of spirally arranged strands secured to the distal end of the catheter body; c) a guiding member disposed within the inner lumen of the elongated catheter body having a distal portion extending through the interior of the expandable cage and out the distal end thereof with a flexible body disposed about the distal portion of the guiding member which extends out of the distal end of the expandable cage; d) means to secure the distal portion of the guiding member to the distal end of the expandable cage so as to prevent relative axial movement therebetween; e) means on the proximal end of the guiding member to axially rotate the guiding member to steer the distal portion which extends out the distal end of the expandable cage; and f) means to axially move the guiding member to adjust the spacing between the distal and proximal ends of the expandable cage and thereby change the radial dimensions thereof.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The vascular catheter of claim 1 wherein the catheter body is a tubular member with at least the distal portion formed of plastic.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The vascular catheter of claims l or 2 wherein the expandable cage is formed from about 4 to about 20 strands.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
The vascular catheter of any one of the preceding claims wherein the strands are wires having diameters from about 0.002 to about 0.005 inch (about .05 to about .13 mm).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
The vascular catheter of any one of the preceding claims wherein the wires are formed from materials selected from the group consisting of stainless steel and platinum-nickel alloys.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
28 words
The vascular catheter of any one of the preceding claims wherein the flexible body on the distal portion of the guide member is a helical coil of wire.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
43 words
The vascular catheter of any one of the preceding claims wherein the means to secure the guiding member to the distal end of the expandable cage includes a collar having a passageway therein through which the distal portion of the guiding member passes.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
The vascular catheter of claim 7 wherein the passageway is sufficiently large in diameter to allow the axial rotation of the guiding member therein.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
43 words
The vascular catheter of claim 8 wherein a pair of fittings are provided on the guiding member one distally adjacent the collar and one proximally adjacent the collar to fix the position of the guiding member to the distal end of the cage.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.