Patent Application
20060253023
The field of the invention relates to medical devices, and more particularly to an neurovascular intervention device.
Intraluminal, intracavity, intravascular, and intracardiac treatments and diagnosis of medical conditions utilizing minimally invasive procedures are effective tools in many areas of medical practice. These procedures are typically performed using diagnostic and interventional catheters that are inserted percutaneously into the arterial network and traversed through the vascular system to the site of interest. The diagnostic catheter may have imaging capability, typically an ultrasound imaging device, which is used to locate and diagnose a diseased portion of the body, such as a stenosed region of an artery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,035, issued to Hamm et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a catheter having an intravascular ultrasound imaging transducer.
Currently, there exists no indicated intravascular imaging method for the neurovasculature. When evaluating a proposed intravascular imaging device for the neurovasculature, the procedure steps for coronary interventions serve as baseline. Typically, for cardiovascular intervention, the use of the imaging device alternates with the use of the treatment device, i.e., a clinician would insert the imaging device to diagnose the area of interest, and then remove the imaging device to insert the appropriate treatment device. Applied to the neurovascular system this may be particularly undesirable due to time considerations in the treatment of strokes and/or intravascular aneurysms. In such cases, it may be desirable to provide simultaneous and/or real-time intra-lumen imaging of a patient's vasculature.
In the case of a stroke caused by embolus, it may be beneficial for the clinician to determine the nature of the embolus in order to plan necessary intervention. The embolus may come in two forms, hard plaque or soft thrombus, and different treatments may be used for each. For soft thrombus, drug treatment may be preferred, since it is a more conservative treatment, but such a treatment may be ineffective for hard plaque, which may require more aggressive treatments such as stent placement. The ability to make a quick assessment benefits the patient by receiving the most applicable intervention as soon as possible.
In the case of an aneurysm, the ability to characterize the aneurysm accurately is very important, particularly for embolic coiling procedures. The diameter of the neck of the aneurysm, the diameter of the aneurysm itself, the density of the sac thrombus, and the patency of the parent artery are all important items of data when planning intervention. The ability to determine and/or confirm these items of data real time may provide a factor of safety when planning the required intervention. For example, the embolic coils originally chosen for treatment based on angiograms may have to be modified based on findings that the aneurysm neck is larger or smaller than anticipated. Accordingly, an improved intravascular intervention device would be desirable.
The present invention generally relates to medical devices, and more particularly to an improved intravascular intervention device. In one embodiment, an intravascular intervention device includes a microcatheter configured for intravascular delivery, an imaging wire received within the microcatheter, and a treatment device received within the microcatheter, wherein the imaging wire and the treatment device may be simultaneously advanced. The treatment device is configured to perform intravascular intervention. For example, the treatment device may be configured to deliver a stent, an embolic coil and/or a thrombolytic agent. In this embodiment, the intravascular intervention device may image the area of interest while performing the intravascular intervention, thus allowing imaging to take place in real time.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
In order to better appreciate how the above-recited and other advantages and objects of the present inventions are obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. However, like parts do not always have like reference numerals. Moreover, all illustrations are intended to convey concepts, where relative sizes, shapes and other detailed attributes may be illustrated schematically rather than literally or precisely.
a is a cross-sectional side view of a microcatheter in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
b is a cross-sectional view of a microcatheter in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
c is a cross-sectional view of a microcatheter in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
a is a cross-sectional side view of an imaging wire in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
b is a cross-sectional view of an imaging wire in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
As described above, an intravascular intervention device that allows the simultaneous delivery of an imaging device and a treatment device may be desirable. Turning to
Turning to
Turning to back to
In an alternative configuration, the sheath 121 may be a thick walled hypotube or partially hollowed rod to allow attachment of the floppy tip 124 and passage of the imaging transducer assembly 130. In addition, the sheath 121 may include conductive traces that allow the imaging transducer assembly 130 to be electrically coupled with a proximal connector 200 (shown in
The floppy tip 124 may be composed of a layered coil atop a cylindrical wire that is flattened into a ribbon under the coil. Further, the floppy tip 124 may have a proximally extended axial section over which the imaging transducer 130 may translate (not shown).
Turning to
Connected to the distal end of the drive shaft 138 is a stainless steel housing 140, which serves to reinforce the structure of the imaging transducer assembly 130. Surrounding the coaxial cable 132, within the housing 140 is a silver epoxy 142, a conductive material. Thus, the housing 140 is electrically coupled to the shield wire 134 of the coaxial cable 132 via the epoxy 142. On the distal end of the silver epoxy 142 is an insulating substance, e.g., a non-conductive epoxy 144.
Alternatively, or in addition to the configuration above, the drive shaft 138 may be printed with one or more conductive traces that allow communication between the imaging transducer 130 and a proximal connector 200 (shown in
On the distal end of the non-conductive epoxy 144 is a layer of piezoelectric crystal (“PZT”) 147, “sandwiched” between a conductive acoustic lens 146 and a conductive backing material 148, formed from an acoustically absorbent material (e.g., an epoxy substrate having tungsten particles). The acoustic lens 146 is electrically coupled with the center conductor wire 136 of the coaxial cable 132 via a connector 145 that is insulated from the silver epoxy 142 and the backing material 148 by the non-conductive epoxy 144. The acoustic lens 146 may be non-circular and/or have a convex surface. The backing material 148 is connected to the steel housing 140. It is desirable for the imaging transducer assembly 130 to be surrounded by a sonolucent media. The sonolucent media may be saline. Alternatively, or in addition to, as mentioned above, the sheath 121 of the imaging wire 120 may include a puncture hole 122 to allow blood to surround the imaging transducer assembly 130 as well. As one of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate, the imaging transducer assembly 130 may be translatable relative to the floppy tip 124. Further, the floppy tip 124 may be detachable, thereby exposing the imaging transducer assembly 130.
During operation, the PZT layer 147 is electrically excited by both the backing material 148 and the acoustic lens 146. The backing material 148 receives its charge from the shield wire 134 of the coaxial cable 132 via the silver epoxy 142 and the steel housing 140, and the acoustic lens 146, which may also be silver epoxy, receives its charge from the center conductor wire 136 of the coaxial cable 132 via the connector 145, which may be silver epoxy as well.
In an alternative embodiment, transducer 130 is replaced by a phased array as disclosed in Griffith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,977, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Further, other imaging devices may be used, instead of, or in addition to imaging transducers, such as light based apparatuses for obtaining images through optical coherence tomography (OCT). Image acquisition using OCT is described in Huang et al., “Optical Coherence Tomography,” Science, 254, Nov. 22, 1991, pp 1178-1181, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A type of OCT imaging device, called an optical coherence domain reflectometer (OCDR) is disclosed in Swanson U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,501, which is incorporated herein by reference. The OCDR is capable of electronically performing two- and three-dimensional image scans over an extended longitudinal or depth range with sharp focus and high resolution and sensitivity over the range.
Turning to the treatment device 150 shown in
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the reader is to understand that the specific ordering and combination of process actions described herein is merely illustrative, and the invention can be performed using different or additional process actions, or a different combination or ordering of process actions. As a further example, each feature of one embodiment can be mixed and matched with other features shown in other embodiments. Additionally and obviously, features may be added or subtracted as desired. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.
