1. Technical Field
This application relates to a vascular device and more particularly to a device for closing openings in vessel walls.
2. Background of Related Art
During certain types of vascular surgery, catheters are inserted through an incision in the skin and underlying tissue to access the femoral artery in the patient's leg. The catheter is then inserted through the access opening made in the wall of the femoral artery and guided through the artery to the desired site to perform surgical procedures such as angioplasty or plaque removal. After the surgical procedure is completed and the catheter is removed from the patient, the access hole must be closed. This is quite difficult not only because of the high blood flow from the artery, but also because there are many layers of tissue that must be penetrated to reach the femoral artery.
Several approaches to date have been used to close femoral access holes. In one approach, manual compression by hand over the puncture site is augmented by a sandbag or weight until the blood coagulates. With this approach, it can take up to six hours for the vessel hole to close and for the patient to be able to ambulate. This inefficiency increases the surgical procedure time as well as the overall cost of the procedure since the hospital staff must physically maintain pressure and the patient's discharge is delayed because of the inability to ambulate.
In another approach to close the vessel puncture site, a clamp is attached to the operating table and the patient's leg. The clamp applies pressure to the vessel opening. The patient, however, must still be monitored to ensure the blood is coagulating, requiring additional time of the hospital staff and increasing the cost of the procedure.
To avoid the foregoing disadvantages of manual pressure approaches, suturing devices have been developed. One such suturing device, referred to as “the Closer” and sold by Perclose, advances needles adjacent the vessel wall opening and pulls suture material outwardly through the wall adjacent the opening. The surgeon then ties a knot in the suture, closing the opening. One difficulty with the procedure involves the number of steps required by the surgeon to deploy the needles, capture the suture, withdraw the suture, and tie the knot and secure the suture. Moreover, the surgeon cannot easily visualize the suture because of the depth of the femoral artery (relative to the skin) and essentially ties the suture knot blindly or blindly slips a pre-tied knot into position. Additionally, the ability to tie the knot varies among surgeons; therefore success and accuracy of the hole closure can be dependent on the skill of the surgeon. Yet another disadvantage of this suturing instrument is that the vessel opening is widened for insertion of the instrument, thus creating a bigger opening to close in the case of failure to deliver the closure system. It is also difficult to pass the needle through calcified vessels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,364 discloses another approach for sealing a vessel puncture in the form of a device having an expandable closure member with a filament for pulling it against the vessel wall. The closure member is held in place by a strip of tape placed on the skin to hold the filament in place. However, the closure device is still subject to movement which can cause leakage through the puncture. Additionally, if the suture becomes loose, the closure member is not retained and can flow downstream in the vessel. Moreover, since the suture extends through the skin, a potential pathway for infection is created. The closure device in U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,178 includes a resorbable collagen foam plug located within the puncture tract. However, since coagulation typically takes up to twenty minutes and blood can leak in between the plug and tissue tract, manual pressure must be applied to the puncture for a period of time, until the collagen plug expands within the tract.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a device which would more quickly and effectively close openings (punctures) in vessel walls. Such device would advantageously avoid the aforementioned time and expense of applying manual pressure to the opening, simplify the steps required to close the opening, avoid widening of the opening, and more effectively retain the closure device in the vessel.
Commonly assigned co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/847,141, filed May 17, 2004, discloses effective vascular hole closure devices which have the foregoing advantages. It would be further advantageous to provide a vascular hole closure device which is adjustable to accommodate different tissue thicknesses and applies a more constant clamping/retaining force between the intravascular and extravascular components of the device irrespective of tissue thickness.
The present invention provides a device for closing an aperture in a vessel wall, the aperture having an external opening in an external region of the vessel wall and an internal opening in an internal region of the vessel wall. The device comprises a covering member having a longitudinal axis and positionable inside the vessel against the internal opening of the aperture, and having a dimension to prevent egress of fluid through the aperture. A securing member is positionable external of the vessel. The securing member has a plurality of pores extending therethrough. A flexible connecting member operatively connects the covering member and the securing member and moves the securing member toward the covering member.
In some embodiments, the covering member has a first opening, the first opening configured to restrict movement of the connecting member. A second flexible connecting member could be provided for moving the securing member toward the covering member.
In some embodiments, the covering member is composed of a resorbable material. In some embodiments, the securing member is composed of a mesh material. In some embodiments, the securing member is composed of a resorbable material. The connecting member can also be composed of a resorbable material.
In one embodiment, the securing member is substantially disc shaped in configuration. In another embodiment, the securing member is substantially rectangular in configuration.
The device can further include one or more retainers positioned proximally of the securing member. The device can also include first and second retainers. The retainer(s) can be spherical shaped, bullet shaped, pill shaped or other configurations. The connecting member can be connected to the retainer(s) to move the retainer(s) and securing member toward the covering member.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a device for closing an aperture in a vessel wall, the aperture having an external opening in an external region of the vessel wall and an internal opening in an internal region of the vessel wall. The device comprises a covering member having a longitudinal axis and positionable inside the vessel against the internal opening of the aperture and having a dimension to prevent egress of fluid through the aperture. First and second retainers are positionable external of the vessel. A flexible connecting member connects the first retainer to the covering member. A porous material is positioned between the retainers and the covering member. Preferably, pulling of the connecting member advances the first retainer toward the covering member.
In some embodiments, the covering member has an opening configured to restrict movement of the connecting member. In these embodiments, the connecting member can extend through first and second openings of the covering member and be connected to the securing member. The first opening can be configured to frictionally retain the connecting member to retain the position of the securing member with respect to the covering member.
The device may include a second flexible connecting member connecting the securing member to the covering member.
Preferably, the covering member is pivotable between a more longitudinal orientation for delivery and a transverse position for placement.
Preferred embodiment(s) of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings wherein:
Referring now in detail to the drawings where like reference numerals identify similar or like components throughout the several views,
More specifically, the closure device includes a covering member or patch positioned within the vessel against the internal wall of the vessel to block blood flow and a securing member with openings or pores positioned external of the vessel wall to retain the covering member in its blocking position. The securing member is fixedly attached to a flexible connecting member such as a suture such that pulling of the suture advances the attached securing member toward the covering member to ultimately position the securing member either against or adjacent the external surface of the vessel wall. The plurality of pores in the securing member facilitates movement toward the covering member as tissue can enter between the pores. Thus, the fat molecules can enter allowing the securing member to track down easier through the tissue tract.
Turning to
Covering member 40, preferably elongated in configuration as shown, is retained in a delivery sheath in a longitudinal position for delivery to the vessel, and then pivots to a transverse position within the vessel lumen (substantially perpendicular to an axis extending through the aperture) for orientation to cover (patch) the vessel aperture on the internal side. This movement is illustrated in FIGS. 37A-37D of commonly assigned co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/847,141, filed May 17, 2004, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,662,661, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference (hereinafter the '141 application).
The elongated covering member 40 functions to cover (patch) the internal opening in the vessel wall to prevent the egress of blood. With reference to
The longitudinal axis of covering member 40 defines a lengthwise dimension and transverse axes define a shorter widthwise dimensions. The widthwise dimension of the covering member 40 can be for example about 2.5 mm (for a 6 Fr device). In a preferred embodiment, the covering member 40 is about 3.1 mm in widthwise dimension. Other dimensions are also contemplated. The width preferably is at least substantially equal to the dimension of the internal opening in the vessel wall to effectively cover the opening. In a preferred embodiment, the covering member 40 has a length of about 8.6 mm (in a 6 French system). Other dimensions are also contemplated.
It should be appreciated that alternatively the covering member could be provided with an enlarged width region as illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 1 of the '141 application. The covering member could also be configured asymmetrically so that the enlarged region is off-centered to accommodate widening of the aperture as the member is pulled at an angle. The covering member could also be configured in a paddle shape with a narrowed region adjacent a wider region as in FIGS. 9B-9E of the '141 application. Other covering member configurations including those disclosed in the '141 application could be utilized with the securing members of the present application.
The elongated covering member can be composed of materials such as polycarbonate or polyurethane. Preferably it is composed of resorbable materials such as lactide/glycolide copolymers that after a period of time resorb in the body. If composed of resorbable material, the covering member could optionally have regions of varying resorbability. Varying degrees of resorbability can be achieved for example by utilizing different materials having differing resorbable characteristics or by varying the mass of the covering member (increased mass increases resorbtion time).
Securing member 20 is preferably composed of resorbable material. The securing member can be composed of a material having a plurality of pores extending therethrough. This can include a mesh, braid, or weave for example. It can also include a more solid material having pores formed therethrough. Materials include Polydioxanone (PDO), Polylactic acid (PLA), Polyglycolic Acid (PGA), Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and Polycaprolactone (PCL), although other materials are contemplated. It could also be made of non-absorbable polymeric or metallic material.
When the securing member 20 is released from the delivery instrument, it is spaced further from the covering member 40. It is configured to then be advanced toward the covering member 40. More specifically, securing member 20 is fixedly secured to flexible connecting members illustratively in the form of suture 30 and 32. Sutures 30, 32 are preferably made of polymeric material and are preferably resorbable, composed of a material such as polydioxanome. It is also contemplated that alternatively a metallic material could be utilized. It is also contemplated that a single suture could be utilized to advance the covering member.
As shown, suture 30 has a free end 30a and an opposite end 30b secured to securing member 20 by molding, gluing, forming a knot, or other methods. Similarly, suture 32 has a free end 32a and an opposite end 32b secured to securing member 22 in a similar manner. The sutures 30, 32 are looped through the covering member 40. Other methods of attachment are also contemplated. For example, the sutures can be attached to covering member by a loop of suture as shown for example in FIG. 8 of co pending patent application Ser. No. 12/854,988, filed Aug. 12, 2010 (hereinafter the “'988 application”), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
To advance the securing member 20 toward the vessel wall W (and covering member 40), the free end 30a, 32a of each suture is pulled proximally (in a direction of the arrows of
The delivery instrument for inserting the closure device extends through an opening in the skin, through the tissue tract to the vessel, through an external opening in the vessel wall, through the aperture in the vessel wall, and through an internal opening on the internal side of the vessel wall into the vessel lumen.
The covering member 40 is outside a retainer tube and within a delivery sheath in a tilted position in a manner similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the '988 application. The covering member 40 emerges from the sheath and moves from a tilted and preferably a somewhat straightened positioned, (substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the sheath) to a transverse position within the vessel (see the orientation of
As shown in
Then, to retain the covering member 40 in position against the vessel wall to block blood flow therethrough. sutures 30 and 32 are pulled proximally from their free ends 30a, 32a, in the direction of arrows of
The covering member 40 has a first pair of holes 44a, 44b and a second pair of holes 46a, 46b. The first pair of holes 44a, 44b receive suture 32 and the second pair of holes 46a, 46b receive suture 30. Holes 44b, 46b have a smaller diameter than holes 44a, 46a, respectively. The larger hole 46a is dimensioned to receive suture 30 for free unrestricted movement of the suture 30 therethrough and therefore easier application of securing member 20. Similarly, the larger hole 44a is dimensioned to receive suture 32 for free unrestricted movement of the suture 32 therethrough. Smaller hole 46b is dimensioned to frictionally engage suture 30 so that tension is applied to the suture 30. It is dimensioned so that the suture 30 can be pulled through the hole 46b if sufficient force is applied by pulling on free end 30a, but if such predetermined force is not applied, the suture 30 will remain frictionally engaged within the wall of the hole 46b and not move, and thus securing member 20 will not move. Hole 44b operates similarly with respect to suture 32, allowing movement if a predetermined force is applied but remain frictionally engaged if such force is not applied. In this manner, when the user ceases pulling on free ends 30a and 32a of sutures 30, 32 respectively, the securing member 20 will remain in position.
To enhance the retention of the suture of the present invention within the smaller diameter hole, a plurality of internal teeth can be provided. This is shown for example in FIGS. 22 and 23 of the '988 application wherein hole 496a′ has a plurality of teeth 497 formed on the interior wall of the smaller opening. Engagement of the suture 430′ by the teeth 497 retains the suture and retainer. Note that the teeth can be formed to angle inwardly so the suture can be moved in only one direction, i.e. proximally so the retainer is advanced toward the covering member.
The alternate embodiment of
The alternate embodiment of
In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
While the above description contains many specifics, those specifics should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but merely as exemplifications of preferred embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations that are within the scope and spirit of the disclosure as defined by the claims appended hereto.
This application claims priority from provisional application serial no. 61/330,477, filed May 3, 2010 and is a continuation in part of application no. 12/854,988, filed Aug. 12, 2010 now abandoned, which claims priority from provisional application ser. no. 61/241,555 filed Sep. 11, 2009, and is a continuation in part of application ser. no. 12/358,411, filed Jan. 23, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,070,772, which claims priority from provisional application serial no. 61/066,072, filed Feb. 15, 2008.
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