Patent Application
20140276203
A wide variety of medical devices are known in the art. Some medical devices include a part that slidingly contacts another part of the medical device and/or biological tissue.
In some biopsy procedures it can be challenging to grab and biopsy enough tissue to analyze. Further, once the tissue has been biopsied it can be difficult to retrieve because the surface of the biopsy tool is slippery. Therefore, there remains a need in the art to provide a biopsy forceps to better retrieve and retain tissue material.
Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure, a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the present disclosure and/or additional embodiments of the present disclosure may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below. A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is also provided. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.
In some embodiments, a biopsy forceps system comprises a biopsy forceps having a first jaw and a second jaw. Each of the first jaw and second jaw has a cutting edge and a portion of at least one of the first jaw and the second jaw has a micropatterned coating thereon.
In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating comprises a polymeric material.
In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating is configured to increase the frictional coefficient of the portion of the at least one of the first jaw and the second jaw on which the micropatterned coating is located.
In some embodiments, the biopsy forceps further comprises a sliding surface having a micropatterned coating thereon.
In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating on the sliding surface is configured to reduce the frictional coefficient.
In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating on the sliding surface is lubricious.
In some embodiments, the biopsy forceps system further comprises a spike extending between the first and second jaws.
While the subject matter of the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms, there are described in detail herein specific preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. This description is an exemplification of the principles of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure to the particular embodiments illustrated.
For the purposes of this disclosure, like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated.
The present disclosure relates to employing micropatterned coatings for, for example, use on a biopsy forceps. With regard to
In some embodiments, one or more of the jaws 12 further includes one or more teeth 16, which can be located along the cutting edge 26. As shown in
In some embodiments, the biopsy forceps 10 includes a micropatterned coating 18. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 extends over the entirety of the cavity 14. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 is disposed on one or more portions of the cavity 14. Further, in some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 is disposed on one or more teeth 16 and/or one or more portions of the teeth 16. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 is disposed on the outer surface 20 of the jaws 12. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 is disposed on one or more portions of the cutting edge 26.
In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 helps to secure the tissue before taking the biopsy and further helps to retain the tissue as it is being removed from a body. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 provides extra friction to help the tissue remain engaged with the jaws 12 (e.g., metal jaws) while a biopsy technique is being performed. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 has a higher frictional coefficient than the surface of the biopsy forceps 10 on which it is applied or disposed. Suitable micropatterned coatings 18 are discussed, for example, in the Applications listed on page 1 of this Application.
In one or more embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 comprises a micropatterned polymer. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 is applied on the outside of one or more of the jaws 12 to help with tangential and en face biopsies.
In addition to the foregoing, in some embodiments, the biopsy forceps 10 include a micropatterned coating 18 disposed on one or more sliding surfaces 22. The sliding surfaces 22 are, in some embodiments, adjacent surfaces that contact one another as the biopsy forceps 10 are actuated. In some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 disposed on the facing or sliding surface 22 is lubricious in order to reduce the frictional coefficient. This, in turn, can provide more control for the user, along with haptic feedback, and allow for more accurate tissue securement.
In one or more embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 may provide a coated device or portion thereof with a non-stick characteristic, wherein articles that contact the non-stick surface may slide along the non-stick surface more easily and/or may be more cleanly removed from the non-stick surface. For example, in some embodiments, it may be desirable to include a lubricious micropatterned coating 18 on the outer surfaces of the biopsy forceps 10 and a friction inducing micropatterned coating 18 on the inside surfaces and teeth 16. Any suitable arrangement of friction enhancing and/or friction reducing micropatterned coating 18 can be used.
Further, in some embodiments, the micropatterned coating 18 is disposed on mating surfaces 30 of the teeth 16. In this way, when the mating surfaces 30 of the teeth 16 come together, they help retain the tissue sample.
Turning to
It should be noted that the term “micropatterned coating”, as used herein, may refer to a separately manufactured polymer material that is applied to a surface or may refer to a polymer material that is manufactured simultaneously with the surface, or may refer to a medical device surface having a micropattern incorporated thereon. Further, micropatterned coatings may be formed of any suitable material for a particular application, and may include one or more of a flexible polymer, a rigid polymer, a metal, an alloy, and any other material that may be suitable for a particular application.
The entire contents of the following documents are herein incorporated by reference:
Lotters et al., “The mechanical properties of the rubber elastic polymer polydimethylsiloxane for sensor applications,” J. Micromech. Microengineering, 1997, 7(3): 145-147;
Axisa et al., “Low cost, biocompatible elastic and conformable electronic technologies using MID in stretchable polymer,” Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc., 2007; 2007:6593-6;
Jeong et al., “Nanohairs and nanotubes: Efficient structural elements for gecko-inspired artificial dry adhesives,” Nano Today, August 2009, 4(4):335-346;
Majidi, “Enhanced Friction and Adhesion with Biologically Inspired Fiber Arrays,” University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. thesis, May 15, 2007, 143 pgs.;
Mandavi et al., “A biodegradable and biocompatible gecko-inspired tissue adhesive,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2008 Feb. 19; 105(7):2307-12;
Kroetch, “NanoFab's PDMS Microfluidic Device Fabrication Manual,” September 2004, 8 pgs. (available online at http://www.nanofab.ualberta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/boxedpdms.pdf, last accessed Mar. 10, 2013);
Dodou et al., “Mucoadhesive micropatterns for enhanced grip,” Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc., 2007; 2007:1457-62;
Kwon et al., “Friction enhancement via micro-patterned wet elastomer adhesives on small intestinal surfaces,” Biomed. Mater., 2006 December; 1(4):216-20;
Tooley et al., “Thermal fracture of oxidized polydimethylsiloxane during soft lithography of nanopost arrays,” J. Micromech. Microeng., 2011, 21:054013 (9 pgs.);
Desai et al., “Plastic masters-rigid templates for soft lithography,” Lab Chip, 2009 Jun. 7; 9(11):1631-7).
The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to.” Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims.
Further, the particular features presented in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in other manners within the scope of the present disclosure such that the present disclosure should be recognized as also specifically directed to other embodiments having any other possible combination of the features of the dependent claims.
This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.
This application claims the benefit of provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/798,991 (entitled BIOPSY TOOL HAVING MICROPATTERN, filed on Mar. 15, 2013), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The following patent applications are incorporated herein by reference, each in its entirety: U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/798,685 (Firstenberg et al.), entitled ANTI-MIGRATION MICROPATTERNED STENT COATING, filed on Mar. 15, 2013 (Atty. Docket No. 563.2-15576U502); U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/798,897 (Seddon et al.), entitled ANTI-MIGRATORY STENT COATING, filed on Mar. 15, 2013 (Atty. Docket No. S63.2-15705US01); U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/798,794 (Clerc), entitled DELIVERY DEVICE FOR PARTIALLY UNCONSTRAINED ENDOPROSTHESIS, filed on Mar. 15, 2013 (Atty. Docket No. 563.2-15804US01); U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/799,312 (Fleury et al.), entitled SUPERHYDROPHOBIC COATING FOR AIRWAY MUCUS PLUGGING PREVENTION, filed on Mar. 15, 2013 (Atty. Docket No. 563.2-15857US01); and U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/798,545 (Leanna et al.), entitled MEDICAL DEVICES HAVING MICROPATTERN, filed on Mar. 15, 2013 (Atty. Docket No. 563.2-15934US01).
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61798991 | Mar 2013 | US |
