Claims
- 1. A process for forming an occlusion in a body cavity in the presence of ionic body fluids, comprising:deploying a conductive implant detachably connected to a pusher wire at least partially into a body cavity, said pusher wire being insulated from said implant, said implant forming a return path for current provided to said pusher wire through ionic body fluids, and imposing a current in said pusher wire such that an electrolytically severable joint disposed between said implant and said pusher wire releases said implant from said pusher wire.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said implant comprises a coil.
- 3. The process of claim 2 wherein said coil comprises a platinum alloy coil.
- 4. The process of claim 1 wherein said body cavity comprises an aneurysm.
- 5. A process for forming an occlusion in a body cavity in the presence of ionic body fluids, comprising:deploying an implant at least partially into a body cavity, said implant detachably connected to a composite core wire via an electrolytically erodable junction, said composite core wire having a first conductive member and said implant having a second conductive member in electrical contact with said first conductive member, said junction being electrically insulated from said first conductive member and said second conductive member, said implant forming a return path for current provided to said first conductive member through ionic body fluids, and imposing a current to said junction via said composite core wire such that said junction electrolytically erodes to separate said first conductive member from said second conductive member and release said implant into said body cavity.
- 6. The process of claim 5 wherein said implant comprises a coil.
- 7. The process of claim 6 wherein said coil comprises a platinum alloy coil.
- 8. The process of claim 5 wherein said body cavity comprises an aneurysm.
- 9. The process of claim 5 wherein said first conductive member comprises a single strand electrically conductive lead surrounded by a tubular electrically insulating member.
- 10. The process of claim 9 wherein said first conductive member protrudes distally from a distal end of said insulating member.
- 11. The process of claim 5 wherein said junction comprises an electrolytically conductive erodable ring that is electrically insulated from said first and second conductive members and which, at least prior to release of said implant into said body cavity, is in electrical contact with a third conductive member.
- 12. The process of claim 11 wherein a ring insulating outer layer is at least partially disposed around said ring.
- 13. The process of claim 12 wherein said ring insulating outer layer comprises a score therethrough to expose a discrete area of said ring to surrounding body fluids when said implant is at least partially deployed into a body cavity.
- 14. A process for forming an occlusion in a body cavity in the presence of body fluids, comprising:deploying an implant at least partially into a body cavity, said implant detachably connected to a composite core wire via an electrolytically erodable junction, said composite core wire having first and second electrically conductive members and a first electrically insulating member, said first electrically insulating member configured to directly contact both said first electrically conductive member and said second electrically conductive member, to electrically insulate them from each other, and to electrically insulate said first electrically conductive member from surrounding body fluids, and applying a potential difference between said first electrically conductive member and said second electrically conductive member such that said junction electrolytically erodes to allow complete physical detachment between said implant and said core wire to release said implant into said body cavity.
- 15. The process of claim 14 wherein the potential difference applied between said first electrically conductive member and said second electrically conductive member is between about 0 and 5 volts.
- 16. The process of claim 14 wherein said implant comprises a coil.
- 17. The process of claim 16 wherein said coil comprises a platinum alloy coil.
- 18. The process of claim 14 wherein said body fluid is blood.
- 19. The process of claim 14 wherein said electrolytically erodable junction comprises an extension of said first electrically conductive member and said first electrically insulating member wherein said first electrically insulating member has a score therethrough which allows a discrete area of said first electrically conductive member to establish direct electrical contact with surrounding body fluids.
- 20. The process of claim 14 wherein said second electrically conductive member comprises a wire which is mounted upon said first electrically insulating member, said wire being a single strand extending from a proximal end of said core wire to a distal end of said core wire and culminating in a circumferential loop around said distal end.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/026,373, entitled Assembly Containing an Electrolytically Severable Joint for Endovascular Embolic Devices, filed Feb. 19, 1998, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,260.
US Referenced Citations (36)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
WO 9748351 |
Dec 1997 |
WO |
WO 9802100 |
Jan 1998 |
WO |
WO 9804198 |
Feb 1998 |
WO |
WO 9804315 |
Feb 1998 |
WO |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Sadato et al., (1993) “Treatment of a spontaneous carotid cavernous fistula using an electrodetachable microcoil” American J. of Neuroradiology 14:334-336. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/026373 |
Feb 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/523540 |
|
US |