Claims
- 1. A dilation system for dilating a natural or created track of a body, the dilation system comprising:
a dilating element for insertion into the track of the body, said dilating element being radially expandable to any of a plurality of diameters; and an actuating mechanism connected to said dilating element for controlling the radial expansion of said dilating element to any of the plurality of diameters.
- 2. The dilation system of claim 1, wherein said dilating element comprises a spiral shaped foil.
- 3. The dilation system of claim 2, wherein said dilating element comprises a plurality of locking elements.
- 4. The dilation system of claim 3, wherein said plurality of locking elements comprise at least two series of bumps and recesses extending longitudinally, one of said at least two series of bumps and recesses is disposed at least on an interior surface of an outer segment of the foil and the other of said at least two series of bumps and recesses is disposed at least on an exterior surface of an inner segment of the foil, said at least two series of bumps and recesses overlaying spatially to provide any of a plurality of locked positions.
- 5. The dilation system of claim 3, wherein said locking elements comprise a series of interfitting tongues and recesses disposed longitudinally along the foil.
- 6. The dilation system of claim 5, wherein said tongues are partially cut out from an outer segment of the foil and pointing toward an inner segment of the foil, and said recesses are disposed on an outer surface of an inner segment of the foil.
- 7. The dilation system of claim 5, wherein said tongues are partially cut out from an inner segment of the foil and pointing toward an outer segment of the foil, and said recesses are disposed on an inner surface of an outer segment of the foil.
- 8. The dilation system of claim 3, further comprising a trigger engaging between said at least two series of bumps and recesses, for engaging or releasing engagement of one of said at least two series of bumps and recesses with the other of said at least two series of bumps and recesses.
- 9. The dilation system of claim 3, wherein said locking elements provide unidirectional locking of motion.
- 10. The dilation system of claim 3, wherein said locking elements provide bidirectional locking of motion.
- 11. The dilation system of claim 2, wherein the dilating element further comprises a second spiral shaped foil.
- 12. The dilation system of claim 11, wherein said second foil acts as a dilating element.
- 13. The dilation system of claim 11 wherein said second foil act as a sheath.
- 14. The dilation system of claim 2, wherein the dilating element further comprises a second dilating element selected from the group consisting of malecots, jacks, parallelograms, balloons, wire baskets, pivots, chain links, meshes and braids.
- 15. The dilation system of claim 2, wherein said dilating element further comprises a balloon.
- 16. The dilation system of claim 1, wherein said dilating element comprised a balloon and a mesh or a braid.
- 17. The dilation system of claim 1, wherein said dilating element comprises at least one malecot.
- 18. The dilation system of claim 1, wherein said dilating element comprises at least one jack having at least two series of radially articulated rods.
- 19. The dilation system of claim 1, wherein said dilating element comprises a series of telescopic cannulas.
- 20. The dilation system of claim 1, wherein said actuation mechanism comprises a dial and a transmission mechanism connected proximally to said dial and distally to said dilating element.
- 21. The dilation system of claim 20, wherein said actuation mechanism further comprises indices.
- 22. The dilation system of claim 20 wherein said transmission mechanism transfers a longitudinal motion, rotational motion, or a combination thereof of said dial to said dilating element.
- 23. The dilation system of claim 22, wherein said transmission mechanism comprises at least one tubular member selected from the group consisting of a cannula, a rod, a shaft, and a needle.
- 24. The dilation system of claim 22 wherein said transmission mechanism converts and transfers a rotational motion of said dial to said dilating element.
- 25. The dilation system of claims 24, wherein said transmission mechanism comprises at least one tubular member having at least one thread.
- 26. The dilation system of claim 25, wherein said thread is disposed on a proximal portion of said at least one tubular member for engagement with said dial.
- 27. The dilation system of claim 25, wherein said thread is disposed on a distal portion of said at least one tubular member for engagement with said dilating element.
- 28. The dilation system of claim 25 wherein said transmission mechanism further comprises a second thread.
- 29. The dilation system of claim 1, further comprising an expandable covering disposed around said dilating element.
- 30. The dilation system of claim 29, wherein said expandable covering is selected from the group consisting of meshs, braids, membranes, and foils.
- 31. A method for dilating a track of a body, said method comprising the steps of:
a. inserting a dilating element capable of expanding to any of a plurality of diameters; b. expanding said dilating element to any of the plurality of diameters by proximally actuating an actuation mechanism connected distally to said dilating element, thereby causing said dilating element to reach a dilated state and dilating the track of a body to any of the plurality of diameters.
- 32. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of:
c. introducing a sheath over said dilating element in a dilated state to maintain the track of a body dilated to said any of a plurality of diameters.
- 33. The method of claim 32 further comprising the step of:
d. removing said dilating element from the track of a body.
- 34. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of:
c. deflating the dilating element from said dilated state to any of a plurality of diameters inferior to the diameter of said dilated state.
- 35. The method of claim 31 wherein step a is performed before step b.
- 36. The method of claim 31 wherein step a is performed after step b.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the priority to and the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application serial Nos. 60/060,217 and 60/087,294 filed on Oct. 1, 1997 and May 29, 1998 respectively which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60060217 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
|
60087294 |
May 1998 |
US |
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09814643 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10638757 |
Aug 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09164001 |
Sep 1998 |
US |
Child |
09814643 |
Mar 2001 |
US |