US6506205B2 — Blood clot filtering system

Claim 1

Independent Claim 48 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: a tether; an anchor including means for permanently emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel; a blood clot filter separate from the anchor and removably attached to the anchor by the tether; and a means for releasing the tether from the anchor.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 48 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: a tether; an anchor including means for permanently emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel; a blood clot filter separate from the anchor and removably attached to the anchor by the tether; and a means for releasing the tether from the anchor.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 15 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 1 in which the anchor is radially self-expanding.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 42 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 2 in which the anchor is made of a metal spring wire material bent into a close zig-zag formation, with alternating zig and zag legs meeting at sharp angles at their distal and proximal vertices.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 17 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 3 in which there are 6-18 zig and zag legs.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 21 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 3 in which the anchor is made of a series of separate wire segments.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 25 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 3 in which the wire spring material is chosen from the group consisting of stainless steel and nitiniol.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 19 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 3 in which spring hinges are formed at each of the vertices.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 18 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 7 in which the spring hinges are offset from each other.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 33 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 3 in which at least two hooks are provided respectively at at least two distal vertices space equidistantly on a circle defined by the distal vertices.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 33 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 5 in which hooks are provided at at least two distal vertices and the hooks are formed from protruding end portions of the separate wire segments.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 24 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 1 in which the blood clot filter includes two stages which cooperate to provide enhanced clot catching.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 29 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 11 in which the first stage comprises a series of distally projecting legs evenly spaced about the longitudinal axis of the system.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 20 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 12 in which three or more evenly spaced distally projecting legs are provided.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 36 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 12 in which the distally projecting legs are made of a spring-like material that gives each leg rigidity along its longitudinal axis while permitting each leg to flex laterally.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 39 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 14 in which the distally projecting legs, in their fully open, non-in vivo position, are at an angle ranging from about 2° to about 22° to the longitudinal axis of the system.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 35 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 14 in which the distally projecting legs, in their fully open, non-in vivo position, are at an angle of about 12° to the longitudinal axis of the system.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 30 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 14 in which the distally projecting legs are made from stainless steel wire having a diameter of about 0.008 inch to 0.012 inch.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 21 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 12 in which the first stage also comprises a plurality of flexible filamentous tethers.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 25 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 18 in which the flexible filamentous tethers cooperate with the distally projecting legs to aid in catching clots.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 21 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 18 in which the tethers are located between adjacent pairs of distally extending legs.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 30 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 18 in which the tethers are made of a material chosen from the group consisting of nitinol, stainless steel, and synthetic filamentous materials.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 26 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 18 in which the tethers are flat are made from nitinol, and have a width of about 0.005 inch.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 31 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 11 in which the second stage comprises a series of generally radially projecting legs generally evenly spaced about the longitudinal axis of the system.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 41 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 in which each of the second stage legs is positioned so that, in the deployed filter, it will generally bisect the space between each of the distally projecting legs and its adjacent tether.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 22 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 , in which about 6 to 12 radially projecting second stage legs are provided.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 36 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 in which the radially projecting legs are made of a spring-like material that gives each leg rigidity along its longitudinal axis while permitting each leg to flex laterally.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 39 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 in which the radially projecting legs, in their fully open, non-in vivo position, are at an angle ranging from about 50° to about 90° to the longitudinal axis of the filter.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 35 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 in which the radially projecting legs, in their fully open, non-in vivo position, are at an angle of about 70° to the longitudinal axis of the filter.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 30 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 in which the radially projecting legs are made from stainless steel wire having a diameter of about 0.008 inch to 0.012 inch.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 19 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 23 in which the radially projecting legs are made from round wire.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 26 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 1 in which the surfaces of the anchor are coated with a surface modifier for reducing or preventing endothelializtion.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 59 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for permanently emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel, the surfaces of the anchor being coated with a surface modifier for reducing or preventing endothilialization where the surface modifier is chosen from the group consisting of rapamycin and paclitaxil; and a blood clot filter removably attached to the anchor.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 59 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for permanently emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel, the surfaces of the anchor being coated with a surface modifier for reducing or preventing endothilialization where the surface modifier is chosen from the group consisting of rapamycin and paclitaxil; and a blood clot filter removably attached to the anchor.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 28 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 18 in which the filter includes means for removably retaining at least one end of each of the flexible filamentous tethers.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 17 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 33 in which the retaining means comprises a spring-loaded jaw.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 175 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for permanently emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel, with the anchor being made of a metal spring wire material bent into a closed zig-zag formation, with alternating zig and zag legs meeting at sharp angles a their distal and proximal vertices; a blood clot filter including two stages which cooperate to provide enhanced clot catching, in which the first stage includes a series of distally projecting legs spaced about the longitudinal axis of the system, a series of flexible filamentous tethers removably attaching the filter to the anchor, and means for removably retaining at least one end of each of the flexible filamentous tethers, in which the retaining means comprises a spring-loaded jaw, one end of each tether is fixed to the jaw, and the opposite end passes through a proximal vertex of the anchor and back to the jaw where it is removably held so that, when the tether end is released from the jaw, the filter may be detached from the anchor.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 175 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for permanently emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel, with the anchor being made of a metal spring wire material bent into a closed zig-zag formation, with alternating zig and zag legs meeting at sharp angles a their distal and proximal vertices; a blood clot filter including two stages which cooperate to provide enhanced clot catching, in which the first stage includes a series of distally projecting legs spaced about the longitudinal axis of the system, a series of flexible filamentous tethers removably attaching the filter to the anchor, and means for removably retaining at least one end of each of the flexible filamentous tethers, in which the retaining means comprises a spring-loaded jaw, one end of each tether is fixed to the jaw, and the opposite end passes through a proximal vertex of the anchor and back to the jaw where it is removably held so that, when the tether end is released from the jaw, the filter may be detached from the anchor.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 89 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 34 in which the spring-loaded jaw includes a conical cavity and a conical member shaped and sized to seat displaceably therein under a spring force provided by the jaw, with at least a portion of the outer surface of the conical member abutting at least a portion of the inner surface of the conical cavity, whereby at least one end of each of the flexible filamentous tethers is removably retained between the abutting surfaces of the conical cavity and the conical member.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 50 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 36 in which one end of each of the flexible filamentous tethers is removably retained between the abutting surfaces of the conical cavity and the conical member and the other end of each of the flexible filamentous tethers is fixed to the jaw.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 53 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 35 in which the anchor is made of a metal spring wire material bent into a close zig-zag formation, with alternating zig and zag legs meeting at sharp angles at their distal and proximal vertices and the tethers pass through selected ones of the proximal vertices.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 29 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 38 in which spring hinges are formed at the vertices and the tethers pass through the spring hinges at the proximal vertices.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 24 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 34 in which movable abutting surfaces of the jaw are coated with a material which minimizes sticking.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 22 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 39 in which the tethers each pass through more than one of the spring hinges.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 23 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 40 in which the coating is chosen from the group consisting of silicone grease and polytetrafluoroethylene.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 13 words

The blood clot filtering system of claim 1 including a plurality of tethers.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 48 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel; a blood clot filter; flexible filamentous tethers located between the anchor and the filter removably attaching the anchor to the filter; and means for releasing the tether from the anchor.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 48 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel; a blood clot filter; flexible filamentous tethers located between the anchor and the filter removably attaching the anchor to the filter; and means for releasing the tether from the anchor.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 79 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel; and a blood clot filter removably attached to the anchor; the filter further including a series of spring-like distally diverging legs each having rigidity along its longitudinal axis but being able to flex laterally; and a series of flexible filamentous tethers attaching the anchor and the filter, and the tethers being attached adjacent the proximal ends of the distally diverging legs.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 79 words

A blood clot filtering system comprising: an anchor including means for emplacing the anchor in a blood vessel; and a blood clot filter removably attached to the anchor; the filter further including a series of spring-like distally diverging legs each having rigidity along its longitudinal axis but being able to flex laterally; and a series of flexible filamentous tethers attaching the anchor and the filter, and the tethers being attached adjacent the proximal ends of the distally diverging legs.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2006-01-13	2006-07-15	2007-01-14	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2010-01-13	2010-07-15	2011-01-14	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2014-01-13	2014-07-15	2015-01-14	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Blood clot filtering system

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