DE9420877U1 - Body for tubular passages - Google Patents

Description

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A. Jeck & H.-J. Fleck *·*· ·· *** i4*ifach 1*€§ · *7&Idigr;697 Schwiebertingen

PATENT ATTORNEYS Telephone (O 71 50) 3 32 71 and 3 44 25 · Fax {071 50) 3 21 91

Ä 10160 - a/b

Dr. Dr. med. Andreas U. FREIBURGHAUS

Am Pfisterhölzli 52 Im Chramen 9

CH-8712 S t ä f a CH-8606 Greifensee

Body for tubular passages

The invention relates to a body for opening, keeping open, forming and/or lining tubular passages, e.g. arteries or veins, or other cavities.

Such bodies are known and are described, for example, in US Patent 5,071,407. The mesh-like body is brought into designated passages, e.g. arteries, using complex devices, where it unfolds and takes on the desired shape. This body is complex to construct and requires complex devices to insert it into the passages.

Based on the above prior art, the invention is based on the object of remedying this situation.

The stated object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claim 1.

It can be seen that the invention is at least realized when it is a body (material) that has at least two states with different physical properties

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can take:

In the first state, the body preferably has a small cross-section, is flexible and soft-elastic, is provided with or without perforation(s) along its entire length or parts thereof, and may have branching(s).

In the second state, the body (material) has the desired cross-section and diameter as well as the desired rigidity and elasticity, defining a cavity that is open at at least one end and has the desired wall thickness and wall texture.

Further expedient and advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

The general functioning of the body (material) can be summarized as follows:

The body is brought to the desired location in the first state using a suitable auxiliary device I. At the desired location, the body is transferred from the first state to the second state (possibly using at least one other suitable auxiliary device II, which may be identical to or part of the first auxiliary device I). At the latest when the body has moved into the second state, the auxiliary devices are removed, whereupon the body takes on the desired shape at the desired location, remains spatially fixed and fulfils its purpose, namely forming tube-like cavities (passages) that were previously narrowed or collapsed or nonexistent, opening, keeping open or lining them.

Suitable materials are those that are designed in such a way that they can assume more than one state

„.

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and reversibly or irreversibly, in a controllable manner from one state to another. In at least one state the material must be soft, highly elastic and deformable and in at least one other state it must be solid and/or viscoelastic and/or rigid. The transition from one state to the other must be controllable and be able to be initiated in a physical or chemical or physico-chemical manner. The body can consist of one or more such materials or be formed from a combination of such materials with conventional materials.

Some uses and applications of the body according to the invention are now specified or explained in more detail:

Medical application: stent.

Vascular system: Restoring and/or keeping open arteries or veins.

Digestive tract: Restoring and/or keeping open the esophagus, bile duct, and pancreatic duct.

urogenital system: Restoring and/or keeping open the ureters, urethra, sperm ducts, fallopian tubes.

Respiratory tract: trachea, bronchi.

Create anatomically predetermined or artificial access or drainage or introduction routes from one hollow organ into another, normal or pathological (cysts, caverns, hematomas) or to the body surface.

Non-medical use:

Tunnel construction, canal construction: lining and stabilizing cave,

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Tunnel or canal walls in stable or unstable ground.

Sewerage and pipe systems: Seal leaks temporarily or permanently from the inside. Line pipe systems from the inside.

States

In the first state, the body can be a soft, flattened tube wound around a smooth, flexible guide wire lying in its cavity. In the second state, this tube unfolds and solidifies so that it forms a continuous cavity and either supports it and prevents it from collapsing or prevents it from expanding and leaking. The wall texture can be rough on the outside and smooth on the inside, the wall can be perforated or solid or semi-permeable. In the second state (also in the first state), the body can also have a branched shape, e.g. form a Y. In the first state, the body can also be a thin, soft tube, which in the second state presents itself as a solidified tube with a larger diameter (the reverse of a shrink tube). In the first state, the body can also be a soft, thin rod, which in the second state presents itself as a solidified tube with a larger diameter.

functionality

For example, an auxiliary device C is used: trochar or cannula or catheter with/without guide wire.

An auxiliary device D is also used: a probe with a transmitter for energy in the form of light, heat, sound waves, microwaves or pressure. A probe with an outlet for chemicals or liquids or gases. A combination of both is also possible. As soon as the body has been brought to the desired location using auxiliary device C,

it .*« » _# 27. Dec. 1994 *· ·*· ■5-

the auxiliary device D (possibly through the auxiliary device C) is brought into contact with the body and the appropriate form of energy or the appropriate substance is released so that the body begins to transition from the first state to the second state. After the release and during or after the transition from the first state to the second state, the auxiliary device D (possibly also the auxiliary device C) is removed again. The energy released can be ultraviolet or visible light, which accelerates the hardening (polymerization) of the body. The spatial expansion of the body can be caused by the hardening (polymerization) itself or by prior expansion using a balloon inserted into the body. The spatial expansion and/or the transition from the first state to the second state can also occur independently and/or be initiated by contact of the body with the surrounding material of the target location, e.g. body fluid.

Materials

The materials can be suitable plastics (e.g. polyurethane, acrylate or silicone) which in the first state are still incompletely polymerized/hardened and therefore still highly deformable and which begin to fully polymerize/harden when exposed to ultraviolet/visible light or when heated or when chemicals or liquids or gases are absorbed, whereby they expand themselves through this process or solidify in the desired spatial shape into which they were previously brought with the aid D. The material can also be a "memory shape alloy" which changes from the first state to the second state when the temperature changes. The material can also be a composite material pressed together in the first state, e.g. a fleece or other fiber fabric which, after expansion, returns to the desired shape.

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Form is bonded by supplying energy or chemicals or liquids/gases (second state). The material can also be a combination of plastics that only change from the first to the second state when their surfaces come into close contact with each other, with/without the intervention of (liquid) third-party substances. The material can also be such that it is dehydrated in the first state and expands spatially when it absorbs water, thereby reaching the second state. Finally, it is also possible to combine the above processes and/or to dope or coat the material with other substances that affect the durability of the material and/or have a desired effect on the environment of the material.

Claims (11)

ff *■ · ■ * -7- 27 Dec. 1994 Claims 1. Body for opening, keeping open, forming and/or lining cavities, e.g. arteries, veins, bronchi, bile ducts or ureters, characterized by that the body, after being introduced into or after the formation of the cavity, assumes the intended shape and maintains it through the action of physical, chemical or mechanical influences such as pressure, temperature, irradiation with acoustic or electromagnetic waves, or after reaction with other substances. 2. Body according to claim 1,
characterized, that the body has at least two states with different physical properties and that the transitions into these states are reversible or irreversible. 3. Body according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized, that the body is highly elastic and/or soft and/or deformable in at least one state, while it is solid and/or viscoelastic and/or rigid in at least one other state. 4. Body according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the body is made of plastic, e.g. polyurethane, acrylate or silicone, which in its initial state is still incompletely polymerized (hardened) and deformable. 5. Body according to one of claims 1 to 4, -8- 27 Dec 1994 characterized, that the hardening of the body (material) occurs through irradiation with electromagnetic radiation, e.g. UV light, or through temperature change, or through absorption or release of chemicals, liquids or gases. 6. Body according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the body is made of metal or alloys, e.g. magnesium or memory shape alloy or spring steel. 7. Body according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the body in its initial state is a compressed composite material, e.g. fleece or another fibrous fabric. 8. Body according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the body is initially dehydrated and when water is absorbed it expands spatially and reaches the final state. 9. Body according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the body in its initial state has a smaller cross-section and/or a smaller volume and/or a greater density. 10. Body according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the body consists of several materials at the same time. -9- 27 Dec 1994 11. Body according to one of claims 1 to 10,
characterized, that the body is doped or coated with other substances which affect the durability of the material and/or have a desired effect on the environment of the material.