Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-22
2001-05-01
Kennedy, Sharon (Department: 3763)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224587
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the field of steerable catheters. More specifically, the invention is directed to a steerable catheter with a specially configured shaft and which includes a single pull wire arranged to allow the catheter to achieve various complex curvatures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Catheters are used for an ever-growing number of procedures. For example, catheters are used for diagnostic, therapeutic, and ablative procedures, to name just a few examples. Typically, the catheter is manipulated through the patient's vasculature and to the intended site, for example, a site within the patient's heart. The catheter typically carries one or more electrodes, which may be used for ablation, diagnosis, or the like, as is well known to those skilled in the art.
In order to manipulate the catheter through a patient's vasculature, the catheter must be flexible. In addition, such catheters are preferably steerable, so that the clinician may temporarily impart a desired curve to the catheter from a remote location in order to pass through curved areas within a patient. A conventional steerable catheter includes one or more pull wires which extend through the catheter shaft, and connect to the catheter adjacent the distal end of the catheter at an off-axis location. The pull wires connect to a control knob or knobs, slide actuator, or other suitable manipulating member that is mounted in a control handle. A form of such a catheter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,852 to Stevens-Wright and assigned to the assignee of the rights in the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
While such catheters have gain widespread acceptance in the industry, they nevertheless suffer from certain shortcomings. One shortcoming is that to achieve relatively complex curves, those catheters require multiple pull wires which extend through different lumen and which connect to the catheter at different anchoring points. In addition, the pull wires each require a separate manipulating member to tension the respective pull wires. Thus, in a conventional steerable catheter, a relatively large amount of space is occupied by the steering subsystem, which limits the amount of space available for other components.
In addition, ablation catheters typically must assume various curves so that the ablation electrodes carried on the catheter will come into contact with a patient's tissue at selected locations. Thus, for that additional reason, catheters should be able to assume complex curves.
Others have designed catheters that achieve complex curves, for example, three-dimensional curves. One such catheter requires a secondary anchoring point, and a catheter shaft having a segment of intermediate stiffness and a more flexible segment, such that when the pull wires are tensioned, the catheter shaft assumes some relatively complex curve. However, to achieve such a curve, the catheter requires an intricate structure.
Accordingly, it will be apparent that there continues to be a need for a steerable catheter which can achieve relatively complex curves to facilitate manipulation of the catheter through a patient's vasculature and to an intended site. Moreover, the needs exists for such a catheter with a steering subsystem that occupies a relatively small amount of space within the catheter to accommodate a relatively large number of other components. The instant invention addresses these needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the present invention is in the form of a catheter that includes a catheter shaft which is permanently twisted during formation through a selected angle and at a predetermined location on the shaft. The catheter shaft includes one or more lumen, which rotate through the selected angle at the predetermined location. A pull wire is provided and extends through one of the lumen, including through the twisted region, and attaches to the inside of the catheter shaft adjacent the distal end thereof. By tensioning the pull wire, the catheter can assume various complex curves, depending on the selected angle through which the catheter shaft is rotated and the location of the twist. A proximal segment of the catheter can assume a curve in a first plane, while a distal segment of the catheter can assume a curve in a different plane, thereby achieving a three-dimensional curvature with a single pull wire.
Thus, according to one illustrative embodiment, the present invention is directed to a medical device including: an elongated shaft having at least one lumen extending through the shaft, the shaft being formed at a predetermined region with a twist, whereby the lumen extends through the shaft in a non-linear manner; a pull wire extending through the at least one lumen; and means for tensioning the pull wire to impart a desired curve to the shaft.
In another illustrative embodiment, the invention is directed to a medical device that includes a handle with a pull wire tensioning member that is manipulable relative to the handle; an elongated shaft including at least one lumen extending through the shaft, the shaft being formed at a predetermined region with a twist, whereby the lumen extends through the shaft in a non-linear manner; and a pull wire extending through the at least one lumen, the pull wire being connected to the pull wire tensioning member, whereby manipulation of the pull wire tensioning member tensions the pull wire to induce a curvature in the shaft.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5879499 (1999-03-01), Corvi
patent: 5910129 (1999-06-01), Koblish et al.
patent: 5916147 (1999-06-01), Boury
C.R. Bard Inc.
Darby & Darby
Kennedy Sharon
Lam Ann Y.
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