Apparatus for atherectomy
US5409454A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 2, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 25, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 2, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B2017/320052
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A catheter is disclosed which is capable of cutting obstructive tissue from a vessel of a living body while shielding a portion of the wall of the vessel from being exposed to the cutting blade at the catheter's distal end. An essentially continuous outer surface at the catheter's distal end allows it to be readily advanced through an introducer sheath and through a tight stenosis in an artery. The shield at the catheter's distal end could subtend an arc from as little as 45 degrees to as large as 270 degrees depending on the extent of the vessel wall that is to be protected from being cut. A vacuum source at the catheter's proximal end can cause a suction to exist at a cutout at the catheter's distal end in order to pull obstructive tissue into the cutout as the cutting cylinder is pulled back in a retrograde direction, this suction being capable of enhancing the removal of the obstructive tissue.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.