AU785371B2

AU785371B2 - Blood vessel support

Info

Publication number: AU785371B2
Application number: AU45892/02A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Carl Francis Sanders
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-06-07
Filing date: 2002-06-07
Publication date: 2007-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 2022-06-07
Also published as: AU4589202A

Description

Regulation 3.2 -1-

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT

APPLICANT:

NUMBER:

FILING DATE: CARL FRANCIS SANDERS PR5522 7/ 6/2001 Invention Title: BLOOD VESSEL SUPPORT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: BLOOD VESSEL SUPPORT MEANS Technical area This invention relates to the area of surgery and in particular to a means and apparatus for facilitating anastomosis of severed blood vessels particularly arteries.

Background to the invention It is a frequent occurrence during surgery that blood vessels, hereinafter for convenience sake referred to in terms of arteries, need to be connected. This can be either as a result of accidental severance or alternatively be required 10 where a blockage needs to be removed or a graft carried out or in any procedure carried out by a surgeon involving anastomosis.

Conventional stents are suitable for use at arterial blockage sites to expand arteries and act as a permanent support for the artery and are used commonly in cardiac applications. They are inserted usually by means of a catheter and are .i i5 useful for dealing with blocked arteries which can accommodate a catheter.

Smaller arteries with blockages or other damage may need part of the artery to be surgically removed while in other cases a graft or bypass may be required thereby necessitating anastomosis or connection of the blood vessel endings.

eeee Whatever the cause of the need for joining a severed artery, or for putting in a graft, the practice has been to apply a surgical ligation clip near each free end of the severed artery and for a surgeon to then attempt to suture the loose ends together.

K:\WPSPECManders2 7/6/02 -3- This is a difficult procedure as the arterial ends hang loosely from the ligation clips and are difficult to handle. Added difficulty can result from a tendency for such blood vessels to roll back on themselves.

Recently a vascular glue has been developed which many consider to be a significant advance over suture material, however the importance of correctly aligning the vessel ends becomes even more critical. This is because such vessels can be very small and any error in alignment could potentially have extremely serious consequences.

Outline of the invention It is an object of the invention to provide a means of supporting the ends of severed blood vessels in a manner which facilitates a surgeon's ease of o connecting these ends.

The invention is a vascular support device which can be placed in the proximity of the free ends of a blood vessel requiring joining and thereby provide a temporary support means for the ends of the blood vessel while they are being joined.

The invention in one embodiment is a vascular support device in the form of a stent type device having an aperture therethrough which device can be placed inside the free ends of a blood vessel requiring joining and thereby provide a temporary support means for the ends of the blood vessel while they are being joined..

K:\WPSPEC\sanders2 7/6/02 In another embodiment of the invention a vascular support device is provided which device has an open body portion upon which the free ends of a blood vessel to be joined can lie, said body portion being provided with laterally extending members at each end thereof which can deformed to hold a blood vessel.

It is preferred that the lateral members be able to be used as clamps or ligation clips to hold the vessel.

It may be preferred that the clamp means hold the vessel ends in a fixed relationship with one and other while the body provides support for them while they are being joined.

By means of the devices of the invention the blood vessel free ends can relatively easily be held in close abutment for joining or connection.

It is preferred that the soluble stent type device be smooth and have no rough edges however it may be preferred that it have a ridged surface to provide improved grip for a blood vessel placed over it. It may further be preferred that the stent device have a larger external diameter than the inside diameter of the blood vessel concerned to maintain it in position within the vessel.

.In order that the invention may be more readily understood we will describe by way of non limiting example specific embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.

K:\WP\SPEC\sanders2 7/6/02 Outline of the Drawing Figures Fig. la Fig. lb S Fig. 2 Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the severed ends of a blood vessel; is a schematic diagram of a vascular support device having a ridged outer surface; is a schematic view of the blood vessel ends located over the support; is a schematic view of the blood vessel sutured to the support device; shows a partial cross-section of a support device inside a blood vessel end where the outer diameter of the support device is greater than the inner diameter of the blood vessel; shows a schematic view of an external vascular support; shows the support of Figure 5 where the blood vessel ends are held by clamps; shows a cross-section through the support device of Figures 5 and 6; Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 K:\WP\SPEClsanders2 7/6/02 Brief Description of the Drawing Figures A first embodiment 10 of the invention 100 is shown in Figure lb. The invention is a stent type device, preferably manufactured from a soluble material, for use between and within opposing ends 21 of a blood vessel 20. The device has an s aperture 35 there through which has an internal diameter preferably approximately that of the internal diameter 25 of the blood vessel.

The device is preferably manufactured from some material such as MyainTM or VikprolTM or the like which is able to maintain a solid form for a sufficient time to permit suturing or gluing of opposing blood vessel ends.

10 The method used is that the device is inserted into each blood vessel end and provides a base to support the vessel and enable a surgeon to either suture the endings together or glue them. It may be preferred that the device be fixed in place within the arterial ends prior to connection by either clamping or tying with suture material however the technique used is not an essential feature of the invention A preferred embodiment of the invention 30 as shown in Figure 4 has a larger outside diameter than the inside diameter of the blood vessel wall, being the •""distance between inner walls 22, and is preferably provided with some smooth surface structure, which in this embodiment of the invention forms the shape of a helical groove 31 in the outer surface 32 of the device and which provides some grip for the inner wall of the blood vessel as well as providing a groove to engage with suture material 33.

K:\WP\SPEC\sanders2 7/6/02 -7- The precise type of outer surface used is not restrictive in the invention and it is envisaged that some type of longitudinal ridging could be used or alternatively ridges concentric to the device could be used.

The device has a hollow interior aperture 35 through which blood can pass and may be sufficiently small to enter the interior of blood vessels having an exterior diameter of 0.75 mm however the actual size may be smaller still. A dissolving support base such as this would be very advantageous for use in micro-surgery.

Where it may be preferred that material not be introduced into the interior of a blood vessel the embodiment 50 of the invention shown in Figures 5 and 6 is used and can be used as a vascular support which supports the free ends 21 of the blood vessel.

This embodiment of the invention includes a body member 52 upon which the blood vessel ends 21 can lie and deformable laterally extending arms 53 which can be used to hold the blood vessel ends into the body, at which stage they can either be sutured or glued or otherwise connected together. The arms 53 can be ***bent to whatever extent the surgeon requires such that they can perform the functions of supporting a blood vessel or clamping it.

This support device can be of any size required and it is envisaged that although it is preferably manufactured from a soluble material such as was described with reference to the first embodiment of the invention it could also be manufactured from a non soluble material and be removable.

K:\WPSPEC\sanders2 7/6/02 The arrangement is such that the artery ends can lie along the body 50 which in cross-section, while possibly flat, is preferably either V shaped as shown in Figure 7 or arcuate to provide support for the blood vessel ends.

While the blood vessel endings may be closed by ligation clips lateral members 53, being clamping arms, of the support device can be bent up around the free ends of the artery to hold these ends together to facilitate suturing. While this may be preferable for suturing the ends together, where vascular glue is to be used it may be preferable to clamp one blood vessel ending in position on the support device body while applying glue to the face of the opposing blood vessel ending and bringing its face into contact with that of the ending fixed on the support device.

OV

On completion of the anastomosis, by whatever means is chosen, the support device could be either unclamped and physically removed from the patient or, if it was of the soluble kind, it could be left in situ.

The vascular support devices of the invention provide a means whereby a surgeon is assisted in carrying out the difficult task of anastomosis by the **provision of a support means for the free ends of blood vessels which require connection.

The invention is not limited to direct connection of two blood vessel endings but may take different shapes to support the vessels involved. For example, where a bypass was being carried out it may be preferable to provide for vascular support at a three directional junction. It is envisaged that the support devices K:\WP\SPECsanders2 7/6/02 of the invention may be manufactured in any range of shapes and sizes required while still lying within the invention.

While we have described herein two particular preferred embodiments of the invention, it is envisaged that other embodiments of the invention would exhibit s any number of and combination of the features previously described and it is to be understood that variations and modifications in this can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

o o *oooe 1-: K:\WP\SPEC\sanders2 7/6/02

Claims

1. A vascular support device which device has a generally V shaped open body portion upon which free ends of a blood vessel to be joined can lie, said body portion being provided with laterally extending members at each end thereof which can be deformed to hold the the blood vessel.

2. A vascular support device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the lateral members are able to be used as clamps or ligation clips to hold the blood vessel onto the support device. i to1

3. A vascular support device as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 in which the clamps or ligation clips hold the vessel ends in abutment.

4. A vascular support device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the device is soluble.

A vascular support device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein a stent device is placed within the free ends of the blood vessel requiring joining and provides a support means for the ends of the blood vessel while they are being joined.

6. A vascular support device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the stent device has an aperture therethrough. 20

7. A vascular support device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the stent device has smooth inner and outer surfaces.

8. A vascular support device as claimed in claim 7 wherein the stent device has an outer surface which is ridged or otherwise roughened to provide improved grip for blood vessel ends placed over it. Y:WSPECsntdrsCLS-NEW.wpd 24/10/06 COMS ID No: SBMI-05142148 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:05 Date 2006-10-24

09-03-08;12:38 ;A Tatlock Associates IP AUST Canberra ;61 3 9884 9900 t 9/ 17 -11- 9. A vascular support device as claimed in claim 8 wherein suture material is able to locate in ridges in an outer surface of a blood vessel resulting from corresponding ridges in the outer surface of the stent device inside the blood vessel. s

10. A vascular support device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the stent device has a larger external diameter than the inside diameter of a blood vessel in which it is used to maintain it in position within the blood vessel.

11. A vascular support device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to wherein the stent device is soluble.

12. A vascular support device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 8 day of March, 2006 CARL FRANCIS SANDERS By his Patent Attorneys A TATLOCK ASSOCIATES Y:\SPECsandersCLS-NEW.wpd COMS ID No: SBMI-02916866 Received by IP Australia: Time 13:39 Date 2006-03-09