Balloon assisted endoluminal prosthesis deployment

Abstract

Delivery system embodiments for treatment of a vascular defect of a patient's vasculature that may include an endoluminal prosthesis loaded on a delivery catheter. In some cases, an inflatable balloon used to facilitate deployment of the endoluminal prosthesis may be disposed within an inner lumen of a tubular graft portion of the endoluminal prosthesis.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS[0001]This patent application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15 / 576,241, filed Nov. 21, 2017, which is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT / US2016 / 034427, filed May 26, 2016, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 167,247, filed May 27, 2015, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND[0002]An aneurysm is a vascular defect indicated generally by an expansion and weakening of the wall of an artery of a patient. Aneurysms can develop at various sites within a patient's body. Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) or abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are manifested by an expansion and weakening of the aorta which is a serious and life threatening condition for which intervention is generally indicated. Existing methods of treating aneurysms include invasive surgical procedures with graft replacement of the affected vessel or body lume...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a delivery system for treating vascular defects that includes an endoluminal prosthesis and a delivery catheter. The endoluminal prosthesis has a thin flexible material with a main graft portion and a self-expanding anchor member. The delivery catheter has an elongate shaft with a distal section and a proximal section, with a releasable constraint for securing the endoluminal prosthesis. The delivery catheter also has an inflatable balloon that is positioned within the main graft portion of the endoluminal prosthesis. The inflatable balloon can be inflated and expanded to radially expand a portion of the graft portion that is adjacent to the inflatable balloon. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a delivery system that can securely and accurately position an endoluminal prosthesis for treatment of vascular defects.

Problems solved by technology

Surgical procedures to treat aortic aneurysms can have relatively high morbidity and mortality rates due to the risk factors inherent to surgical repair of this disease as well as long hospital stays and painful recoveries.

This is especially true for surgical repair of TAAs, which is generally regarded as involving higher risk and more difficulty when compared to surgical repair of AAAs.

Also, such existing systems have greater than desired lateral stiffness, which can complicate the delivery process, particularly for use in treatment of vascular defect sites that include a high degree of curvature or angulation.

Even with more flexible low profile delivery systems, deployment of endovascular prostheses in highly angulated and curved vessels may be problematic due to difficulties with visualization or imaging of the orientation of the prostheses during the deployment process.

Achieving a proper seal between an outer surface of an endovascular prosthesis and an inner surface of a vessel being treated after deployment of the endovascular prosthesis may also be challenging in some instances.

As such, minimally invasive endovascular treatment of aneurysms may not be available for many patients that would benefit from such a procedure and can be more difficult to carry out for those patients for whom the procedure is indicated.

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