Combination of a capsule for brachytherapy and a guidewire

Details Combination of a capsule for brachytherapy and a guidewire Combination of a capsule for brachytherapy and a guidewire

1999-03-03

2001-03-06

Hindenburg, Max (Department: 3736)

Surgery

Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy

Radioactive substance placed within body

Reexamination Certificate

active

06196964

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a combination of a capsule for incorporating a radioactive source to be applied in brachytherapy and a guidewire.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART
Such a combination is known in practice and described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,520, which is herewith incorporated by reference.
For local radioactive radiation treatment of a specific internal area of the human body, such as a tumor, or a wall section of a blood vessel, it is possible, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,520, to deliver a capsule with a radioactive source, via a hollow needle, a flexible tube or a catheter or the like, to the area to be treated. For this purpose, normally the so-called “after loading” technique is employed. First, the catheter, or the like, is placed in the body and then the capsule attached to the distal end of a guidewire is delivered with the help of a remotely controlled device to the treatment area.
The combination of the capsule and guidewire should, on the one hand, have a high degree of flexibility to be able to follow the curves of a catheter or the like, and on the other, a certain rigidity, so that the capsule can be pushed through a catheter toward its distal end with the help of the guidewire. For the application in endovascular brachytherapy, a catheter normally has an inside diameter on the order of 1.5 mm or less. The length of a capsule depends on the desired strength of the radioactive source placed in the capsule, but should be on the order of several times the diameter, for instance in the range of 5 to 7 mm. The capsule itself and its connection with the guidewire are not flexible, so that the front part of the combination of guidewire and capsule has a relatively low degree of flexibility. Thus there is a certain probability that the capsule cannot pass the curves in a catheter with a strong curvature or only passes with difficulty.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is intended to reduce the outlined problem and, in general, to make available a combination of a capsule and a guidewire that can be applied in a reliable way in a large number of situations, including situations in which strongly curved courses are to be passed in the catheter or the like.
For this purpose, a combination of the above-mentioned type is characterized in that the capsule is attached to the guidewire via an adapter, in which the adapter comprises a cable or a thread with a flexibility greater than the flexibility of the guidewire.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.


REFERENCES:
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patent: 5282781 (1994-02-01), Liprie
patent: 5688220 (1997-11-01), Verin et al.
patent: 0 466 681 (1992-01-01), None
patent: 92/00776 (1992-01-01), None
patent: 94/23789 (1994-10-01), None
patent: WO9425106 (1994-11-01), None
patent: WO9640352 (1996-12-01), None

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