Catheter to be embedded in cochlea and cell transmission device

Abstract

To provide a catheter to be embedded in a cochlea and a cell transmission device.SOLUTION: A catheter to be embedded in a cochlea includes an embedded catheter body. Both ends of the embedded catheter body facing each other define a proximal end and a guide distal end. A central lumen is provided in the center of the embedded catheter body. An outer surface of the embedded catheter body is provided with at least one guide groove extending along a longitudinal direction of the embedded catheter body, and a plurality of horizontally oriented through holes penetrating the central lumen from the outer surface of the embedded catheter body. The embedded catheter body is configured to enter a cochlea of an internal ear of a patient and is bent along rotation of the cochlea of the patient, and a cell or a medicine as a treatment medicine passes the central lumen and the plurality of horizontally oriented through holes and enters the inside of the cochlea of the patient.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cochlear implant catheter and a cell delivery device, and particularly to a cochlear implant catheter and a cell delivery device for delivering cells or drugs into the inner ear of a human.

Background Art

[0002] The auditory receptor (cochlea of the inner ear) and the auditory nerve are important structures for a human to receive external voice signals, but they are liable to lose their functions due to factors such as drugs, environment, aging, or gene mutations. Once the auditory function of humans is damaged, it is very likely to become permanent damage and cannot be recovered, so it is an obstacle to treat hearing impairment at present. With the progress of gene medicine and regenerative medicine, gene clone therapy for hearing impairment and cochlear auditory organ cell regeneration have been recognized, and it is expected to treat hearing impairment by cell therapy.

[0003] Cell therapy for treating hearing impairment mainly injects cells or drugs as therapeutic agents into the inner ear, and uses the cells injected into the inner ear to replace the necessary auditory cells or regenerate the necessary auditory cells. Alternatively, the original cells in the inner ear are differentiated or converted into the necessary auditory cells by the implanted cells or drugs to restore the hearing of the patient. In cell therapy, when classified by cell source, the cells to be injected may be autologous cells or allogeneic cells. When classified by cell type, the cells may be progenitor cells or stem cells. The drugs used may be cell growth factors that promote cell growth or cell transformation, or small molecule therapeutic drugs.

[0004] How to effectively inject cells or drugs as therapeutic agents into the inner ear of the cochlea is one of the important elements of auditory disorder cell therapy. The peripheral structure of the cochlear rotation of the cochlea consists of the bony labyrinth. The cochlea is composed of a thin spiral tube with a spiral inside from the basal turn to the apical turn, including the scala media, scala vestibuli, and scala tympani. The inside of the cochlear rotation is a sealed structure filled with lymphatic fluid, and the volume of the cochlea in humans is only about 10 μl. The pressure action of the lymphatic fluid and the barrier action of the round window membrane are likely to cause extravasation of some drugs or cells, reducing the transmission effect of drugs or cells to the cochlea.

[0005] Current technologies have proposed an implantable catheter that acts by embedding electrodes in the cochlear implant. The implantable catheter has an accompanying lumen for carrying drugs as therapeutic agents and transmitting them into the inner ear of the patient, in addition to the original implantable electrode array and conductive wires. This implantable catheter is provided with electrodes for stimulating the auditory nerve and conductive wires, and a lumen for carrying or flowing drugs is additionally provided, so the diameter of the implantable catheter has to be increased. Also, this implantable catheter has to be implanted together with the electrodes and is a permanently implanted device, so it is different from the design of the present invention applied to send drugs or cells to the cochlea in one treatment.

[0006] From the above, currently, there are still many difficulties in the technology of directly and partially transmitting cells or drugs to the cochlea. How to improve the structural design of the device to overcome the above disadvantages is an important issue for solving the problems existing in cochlear cell therapy.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a cochlear implant catheter and a cell transmission device for the disadvantages of the conventional technology of partially transmitting cells or drugs to the cochlea.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the means adopted in the present invention is a cochlear implant catheter for transmitting cells or a drug as a therapeutic agent to the cochlea of a patient, which includes a flexible implant catheter body. Opposite ends of the implant catheter body define a proximal end and a guide tip. A portion of the implant catheter body embedded in the cochlea of the patient is defined as an embedded portion. A connection terminal is provided on a side facing the proximal end of the embedded portion. The inside of the implant catheter body has a central lumen that penetrates from the center of the proximal end to the center of the guide tip. The embedded portion has at least one guide groove provided on the outer surface and a plurality of lateral through holes that penetrate from the outer surface of the embedded portion to the central lumen. The implant catheter body is configured to enter the cochlea of the patient with the guide tip directed towards the cochlea of the patient, advance while bending along the spiral structure of the cochlea of the patient, enter between the basal turn and the apical turn of the cochlea of the patient, introduce the cells or the therapeutic agent from the proximal end into the central lumen, enter the interior of the cochlea through the central lumen and the plurality of lateral through holes. At least one of the guide grooves is a spiral groove provided on the outer surface of the embedded portion of the implant catheter body along a spiral path extending in the longitudinal direction of the implant catheter body, which makes it easier to bend when the implant catheter body enters the interior of the cochlea of the patient and produces a guiding effect to reduce the overflow of the lymph fluid in the cochlea, or is a groove along the path of the central axis of the implant catheter body and extending along the longitudinal direction of the implant catheter body.

[0009] To solve the above problems, another means adopted in the present invention is a cell transmission device for transmitting cells or a drug as a therapeutic agent to the cochlea of a patient, comprising a cochlea implant catheter and a transmission module connected to the cochlea implant catheter for transmitting the cells or the drug to the cochlea of the patient. The transmission module has a pressure generator and a connecting pipe connected to the outlet of the pressure generator. The pressure generator stores a fluid containing the cells or the drug, drives the fluid containing the cells or the drug, and sends the fluid containing the cells or the drug from the outlet to the connecting pipe. One end of the connecting pipe relative to the pressure generator is connected to the proximal end of the implant catheter body, and the cells or the drug enter the central lumen of the implant catheter and pass through the central lumen and the plurality of lateral through holes to enter the interior of the cochlea of the patient.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] The present invention has the following beneficial effects. According to the cochlea implant catheter and the cell transmission device provided by the present invention, when the guiding tip of the cochlea implant catheter is implanted into the basal turn of the cochlea of a patient, due to the good bendability of the cochlea implant catheter, it can rotate in the apical turn direction along the spiral ligament on the outer wall of the cochlea chamber while bending and deeply penetrate into the cochlea. The design of the guide groove can reduce the resistance between the outer wall of the implant catheter body and the lymph fluid inside the cochlea. Thereby, the implantation success rate of the cochlea implant catheter can be increased, and the implantation damage of the catheter to the cochlea body can be reduced.

[0011] Furthermore, the cochlea implant catheter of the present invention is designed with a guide groove, and lateral through holes uniformly distributed on the implant catheter body are arranged. Therefore, cells or drugs can be guided to be uniformly distributed at different positions in the cochlea, and the overflow of the lymph fluid inside the cochlea can be avoided.

[0012] To further understand the features and technical content of the present invention, the following detailed description of the present invention and the drawings are referred to. However, the provided drawings are only for reference and explanation, and are not for limiting the present invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] The following is an implementation method for explaining the "snail-embedded catheter and cell transmission device" disclosed by the present invention through specific specific examples. Those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention may also be implemented or applied by other specific examples. Each detail in this specification may be variously deformed and changed without departing from the concept of the present invention based on different viewpoints and applications. Also, it should be explained in advance that the drawings of the present invention are only for simple and schematic illustration and do not represent the actual size. In the following implementation method, the related technical content of the present invention will be described in more detail, but the disclosed content does not limit the protection scope of the present invention. Also, the term "or" used in this specification may include any one or a combination of multiple of the related listed items depending on the actual situation.

[0015] [First Embodiment] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the snail-embedded catheter and cell transmission device of the embodiment of the present invention can transmit cells or drugs into the interior of the snail of a patient to treat the patient's hearing impairment by means of cells or drugs or gene therapy. Specifically described herein are the following. The cells or drugs for treating hearing impairment include cells of types such as autologous cells, stem cells, progenitor cells, and carriers carrying cells, or genes that promote the growth of auditory cells, or genes that promote the conversion of cells into auditory cells. The genes include drugs or their compositions of types such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), plasmid DNA, small interfering RNA, oligonucleotides and their transport carriers, cell growth factors, hearing impairment regenerative medicine preparations, exosomes, etc.

[0016] As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, the snail-implantable catheter 1 of the present invention guides cells for treating hearing impairment or a drug as a therapeutic agent into the interior of the patient's snail 700. In this embodiment, the snail-implantable catheter 1 has an implantable catheter body 100. In a preferred embodiment, the implantable catheter body 100 is formed from a suitable biocompatible material. In one embodiment, the material of the implantable catheter body 100 may be a silicone resin, for example, Silastic MDX 4-4210. In another embodiment, the implantable catheter body 100 may be formed from a fluororesin, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, or a similar material.

[0017] The structure of the implantable catheter body 100 is mainly an elongated tubular body having flexibility, and the implantable catheter body 100 can define an opposing proximal end 110 and a guide tip 120. The implantable catheter body 100 can be implanted into the interior of the patient's snail 700 by the guide tip 120 in the direction of the patient's snail 700. The portion of the implantable catheter body 100 implanted into the patient's snail 700 is defined as the implanted portion. The implantable catheter body 100 has a connection terminal 160 on the side facing the proximal end 110. The connection terminal 160 is arranged for connection to a conduit for sending cells or drugs. The implantable catheter body 100 is provided with a protruding ring 170 at the boundary between the connection terminal 160 and the implanted portion. The protruding ring 170 is for the operator to distinguish the range of the implanted portion of the implantable catheter body 100. The diameter of the protruding ring 170 is configured to be larger than the diameters of the implanted portion and the connection terminal 160, so that the operator can clearly identify the position of the protruding ring 170 and ensure that the implantation length of the implantable catheter body 100 into the patient's snail 700 does not exceed the length L of the implanted portion.

[0018] The implanted portion of the implanted catheter body 100 has a central lumen 130, at least one spiral guide groove 140, and a plurality of lateral through holes 150. The central lumen 130 penetrates from the center of the connection terminal 160 and the proximal end 110 along the central axis of the implanted catheter body 100 to the center of the guide tip 120. The guide groove 140 surrounds the outer surface of the implanted catheter body 100 for 360 degrees. The lateral through holes 150 penetrate from the outer surface of the implanted portion of the implanted catheter body 100 into the central lumen 130.

[0019] The shape and size of the implanted catheter body 100 are designed according to the structure of the human cochlea 700. Generally, the length of the adult cochlea 700 is 30 mm. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, by configuring the length L of the implanted portion of the implanted catheter body 100 to be 8 mm to 30 mm, after the implanted catheter body 100 is implanted into the cochlea 700 of the patient, the depth at which the guide tip 120 can enter the cochlea 700 is close to the range of 8 mm to 30 mm, and the implanted portion can be implanted at different positions from the basal turn to the apical turn of the cochlea 700 of the patient.

[0020] Also, in order to reduce the squeezing pressure of the lymph fluid on the cochlea 700 when the implanted catheter body 100 is implanted into the cochlea 700 of the patient, the diameter of the implanted portion of the implanted catheter body 100 is configured to be 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm. In a preferred embodiment, the diameter of the implanted portion may be configured to be 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 8, the cells for treating hearing impairment or the drug as a therapeutic agent enter from the central lumen 130 located at the connection terminal 160 into the central lumen 130 located at the implanted portion, flow to the end of the central lumen 130 located at the guide tip 120, and flow out from the plurality of lateral through holes 150.

[0022] When the diameter of the central lumen 130 increases, the cross-sectional area of the central lumen 130 increases, and at the same time, the wall thickness of the implanted catheter body 100 decreases. Therefore, the diameter of the central lumen 130 is adjusted among various factors such as the required strength of the implanted catheter body 100 according to the flow rate and viscosity of the fluid sent by the implanted catheter body 100.

[0023] More specifically, the diameters of the central lumen 130 and the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 of the cochlea implant catheter 1 can both be changed according to the type of cells or drugs that the cochlea implant catheter 1 is planned to deliver. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, the cochlea implant catheter 1 is for carrying a hearing disorder regenerative medicine preparation containing spheroids. The spheroids contained in the hearing disorder regenerative medicine preparation are mainly formed by the combination of 2 to 10 progenitor cells and stem cells. The average diameter of each spheroid is distributed in the range of 30 μm to 100 μm. In this embodiment, the diameter of the central lumen 130 is configured to be 300 μm to 500 μm, and the diameters of the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 are configured to be 50 μm to 300 μm.

[0024] With the above configuration, the diameter of the central lumen 130 and the diameters of the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 can be adjusted according to the size of the spheroids contained in the hearing disorder regenerative medicine preparation sent by the implanted catheter body 100. Therefore, drugs and spheroids as therapeutic agents can smoothly pass through the central lumen 130 and the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 and enter the cochlea 700 of the patient.

[0025] In another embodiment of the present invention, the cochlea implant catheter 1 is for carrying a hearing disorder regenerative medicine preparation containing a single stem cell or inner hair cells or a hearing disorder regenerative medicine preparation containing a cell growth factor. The average diameter of the stem cells or inner hair cells is distributed in the range of 5 μm to 10 μm. The types of cell growth factors include various small molecule polypeptides and proteins, and the average diameter of the cell growth factors is 1 μm to 5 μm.

[0026] In this embodiment, the diameter of the central lumen 130 is configured to be 100 μm to 200 μm according to the size of a single cell or cell growth factor. The diameter of the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 is configured to be 10 μm to 50 μm. With the above configuration, the diameter of the central lumen 130 and the diameter of the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 can be matched to the size of the cells or cell growth factors contained in the drug as the therapeutic agent delivered by the implantable catheter body 100. Therefore, the drug or cells as the therapeutic agent can smoothly pass through the central lumen 130 and the plurality of lateral through-holes 150 and enter the patient's cochlea 700.

[0027] In this embodiment, at least one guide groove 140 provided on the outer surface of the implantable catheter body 100 is provided on the outer surface of the implantable catheter body 100 along a spiral path extending in the longitudinal direction of the implantable catheter body 100. The function of the guide groove 140 is to improve the bending elasticity of the implantable catheter body 100. When the implantable catheter body 100 enters the patient's cochlear duct, the implantable catheter body 100 is more likely to bend and can enter the apical turn of the cochlear rotation along the spiral ligament on the outer wall of the cochlear chamber.

[0028] On the other hand, at least one guide groove 140 produces a guiding effect to reduce the resistance generated by the contact between the outer surface of the implantable catheter body 100 and the lymph fluid in the cochlear duct when the implantable catheter body 100 is inserted into the patient's cochlear duct, and to reduce the degree of pressure increase of the lymph fluid in the cochlear chamber. Thereby, the overflow phenomenon of the lymph fluid in the cochlear chamber due to excessive pressure inside the cochlea can be reduced.

[0029] In order to achieve the above object, in this embodiment, the spiral angle of at least one guide groove 140 is configured to be 15 degrees to 60 degrees. Also, the width of at least one guide groove 140 is configured to be 10 μm to 200 μm. In particular, when the spiral angle of the spiral guide groove 140 is 45 degrees, the shear stress generated by the contact between the outer surface of the implanted catheter body 100 and the lymph fluid can be minimized, so that a preferable effect of reducing the overflow of the lymph fluid can be obtained.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, in one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of horizontal through holes 150 are extension paths along at least one guide groove 140 and are provided at the same intervals inside at least one guide groove 140. The interval between two adjacent horizontal through holes 150 is configured not to be less than 50 μm. In this embodiment, since the plurality of horizontal through holes 150 are located inside the guide groove 140, the cells or drugs flowing out from the plurality of horizontal through holes 150 enter the inside of the guide groove 140 and flow under the guidance of the guide groove 140, so that the cells or drugs can be more uniformly distributed inside the snail 700.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 4, in another embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of horizontal through holes 150 are provided at positions that do not overlap with the guide groove 140 in the implanted catheter body 100. That is, in this embodiment, the plurality of horizontal through holes 150 are provided in a region where the guide groove 140 is not provided in the implanted catheter body 100.

[0032] Specifically, regarding the design of the cochlear implant catheter 1 of the present invention, the implant catheter body 100 can be a transmission catheter that delivers cells for treating hearing impairment or a fluid containing a regenerative medical preparation for hearing impairment. Therefore, there is no need to provide electrodes or wiring for the artificial inner ear on the implant catheter body 100, and an increase in the diameter of the implant catheter body 100 due to the electrodes or wiring is avoided. On the premise that the implant catheter body 100 maintains sufficient strength and can withstand the resistance received when being implanted into the cochlea 700 of the implant catheter body 100, the wall thickness of the implant catheter body 100 can be reduced as much as possible. From the above, by reducing the diameter and volume of the implant catheter body 100, it is possible to reduce the overflow of lymph fluid caused by the squeezing out of lymph fluid inside the cochlea 700 when the implant catheter body 100 is implanted into the cochlea 700 of the patient.

[0033] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a cell transmission device 2 combined with the cochlear implant catheter 1 of the present invention. The cell transmission device 2 includes the cochlear implant catheter 1 and a transmission module 200 connected to the cochlear implant catheter 1. The transmission module 200 includes a pressure generator 210, a connection tube 400 connected to the outlet of the pressure generator 210, and a control device 500 connected to the pressure generator 210.

[0034] In this embodiment, the pressure generator 210 may be selected from a micropump, a peristaltic pump, a compressor, or other types of pressure generating devices. The control device 500 is connected to the pressure generator 210, controls the operation of the pressure generator 210, and controls the flow rate and pressure at which the pressure generator 210 delivers the fluid.

[0035] The operator pre-fills the inside of the central lumen 130 of the snail-implanting catheter 1 with a transport carrier containing cells or a drug as a therapeutic agent, connects the connection terminal 160 of the snail-implanting catheter 1 to the connecting tube 400, and implants the implanting portion of the implanting catheter body 100 of the snail-implanting catheter 1 into the snail 700 of the patient. Then, when the pressure generator 210 generates pressure, the cells or the drug as a therapeutic agent inside the snail-implanting catheter 1 are sent into the snail 700 of the patient.

[0036] Figure 6 shows another embodiment of the cell transmission device 2 combined with the snail-implanting catheter 1 of the present invention. As it is necessary to explain, this embodiment is similar to the embodiment of Figure 5, so the same technical content will not be repeatedly explained.

[0037] In this embodiment, the cell transmission device 2 includes a snail-implanting catheter 1 and a transmission module 300 connected to the snail-implanting catheter 1. The transmission module 300 includes a pressure generator 310 which is a syringe. The pressure generator 310 has a plunger (not shown) inside. One end of the pressure generator 310 has an outlet 320 connected to the connecting tube 400. A linkage mechanism 340 is connected to the other end of the pressure generator 310 opposite to the outlet 320. The linkage mechanism 340 is connected to the plunger inside the pressure generator 310 and is driven by a driving module 330 to push the plunger inside the pressure generator 310 to generate pressure. Since the driving module 330 is a driving device controlled by a stepping motor, the operation of the linkage mechanism 340 can be accurately controlled, and the purpose of accurately controlling the flow rate and flow velocity of sending cells or a drug as a therapeutic agent is achieved.

[0038] Figures 7 and 8 show schematic diagrams of a method of implanting the cochlear implant catheter 1 into the interior of a patient's cochlea 700 and delivering a fluid containing cells or drugs for treating hearing impairment into the patient's cochlea 700. As shown in Figure 7, the cochlear implant catheter 1 is directed towards the cochlea 700 and enters the interior of the cochlea 700 from the round window membrane 710 of the cochlea 700. The guide tip 120 of the cochlear implant catheter 1 enters at least into the scala tympani that is closest to the innermost part inside the cochlea 700.

[0039] The proximal end 110 of the implant catheter body 100 of the cochlear implant catheter 1 is connected to the transmission module 200 of the cell transmission device 2 by a connecting tube 400. By the transmission module 200, a fluid containing cells or drugs for treating hearing impairment is delivered into the interior of the implant catheter body 100 of the cochlear implant catheter 1, flows from the central lumen 130 into a plurality of lateral through holes 150, passes through the plurality of lateral through holes 150, and enters the interior of the patient's cochlea 700.

[0040] Since the plurality of lateral through holes 150 of the cochlear implant catheter 1 are distributed within the length range of the implanted portion of the implant catheter body 100, it is possible to avoid the concentration of fluid pressure at a single position inside the cochlea 700, and it is possible to uniformly distribute the cells or drugs for treating hearing impairment at different positions inside the cochlea 700, thereby improving the treatment effect.

[0041] As a matter that requires explanation, in the embodiment shown in Figure 8, the cells 800 contained in the fluid delivered by the cochlear implant catheter 1 combine into spheroids. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the cells 800 contained in the fluid may be single cells or cell growth factors.

[0042] In addition, in the process of the cell transmission device 2 sending fluid into the interior of the patient's cochlea 700, it is necessary to control the velocity and flow rate of the fluid in order to avoid overflow of the fluid containing cells 800 or drugs into the cochlea 700. Also, in order to avoid excessive pressure of the fluid and prevent the cells 800 in the fluid from dying or being damaged due to excessive pressure, it is necessary to control the pressure of the fluid.

[0043] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the cell transmission device 2 transmits a fluid with a viscosity of 2 Pas to 5 Pas, it is configured to be able to send the fluid to the cochlea implantation catheter 1 at a flow rate of 0.1 sccm to 0.5 sccm, and the pressure of the fluid is configured to be within the range of 1000 MPa to 1500 MPa.

[0044] It should be noted that the cochlea implantation catheter 1 of the present invention is designed such that after sending a fluid containing cells or drugs for treating hearing impairment into the cochlea 700 of the patient, it is taken out from the patient's cochlea 700 and not left embedded inside the patient's cochlea 700. Therefore, the operator can, according to the necessity of treatment, send cells or drugs into the patient's cochlea 700, and after taking out the cochlea implantation catheter 1, close the round window membrane 710 of the cochlea 700, and then choose whether to keep the cells or drugs inside the cochlea 700, or whether to implant the electrodes of the cochlear implant and then close the cochlea 700.

[0045] [Second Embodiment] Figures 9 and 10 show a second embodiment of the cochlea implantation catheter of the present invention. It should be noted that since the technical features of this embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment, the same technical features will not be repeatedly described.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 9, in this embodiment, a plurality of guide grooves 140a are provided on the outer surface of the embedding portion of the cochlea-embedded catheter 1a. The plurality of guide grooves 140a are linear grooves that extend along a path parallel to the central axis of the embedding catheter body 100a and along the longitudinal direction of the embedding catheter body 100a and are provided on the outer surface of the embedding portion of the embedding catheter body 100a.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 10, from the cross-sectional observation of the embedding portion of the embedding catheter body 100a, the plurality of guide grooves 140a are provided so as to surround the outside of the embedding catheter body 100a at equal angular intervals and are recessed from the outer surface of the embedding catheter body 100a toward the center of the embedding catheter body 100a. The plurality of guide grooves 140a can improve the bending elasticity of the embedding catheter body 100a. When the embedding catheter body 100a enters the inside of the cochlea 700, the plurality of guide grooves 140a can produce a guiding effect, reduce the resistance between the embedding catheter body 100a and the lymph fluid inside the cochlea 700, and achieve the effect of reducing the overflow of the lymph fluid.

[0048] [Beneficial effects of the embodiment] The present invention has the following beneficial effects. According to the cochlea-embedded catheter and the cell transmission device provided by the present invention, when the cochlea-embedded catheter is designed to be easily embedded inside the cochlea of a patient, it has good bendability, so it is easy to bend and can deeply penetrate into the cochlear duct along the spiral ligament on the outer wall of the cochlear duct. The design of the guide groove can reduce the resistance between the outer wall of the embedding catheter body and the lymph fluid inside the cochlea. Thereby, the embedding success rate of the cochlea-embedded catheter is increased to prevent the cochlea from being damaged.

[0049] Furthermore, a guide groove is designed in the snail-implantable catheter of the present invention, and lateral through-holes uniformly distributed in the implantable catheter body are arranged. Therefore, cells or drugs can be guided to be uniformly distributed at different positions of the snail, and overflow of lymph fluid inside the snail can be avoided.

[0050] The content disclosed above is only a preferred feasible embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the claims of the present invention. Therefore, all of them are equivalent technical changes made using the content of the specification and drawings of the present invention, and are included within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0051] 1, 1a: Snail-implantable catheter 2: Cell transmission device 100, 100a: Implantable catheter body 110, 110a: Proximal end 120, 120a: Guide tip 130, 130a: Central lumen 140, 140a: Guide groove 150, 150a: Lateral through-hole 160, 160a: Connection terminal 170: Protruding ring 200, 300: Transmission module 210, 310: Pressure generator 220, 320: Outlet 330: Drive module 340: Linkage mechanism 400: Connecting tube 500: Control device 700: Snail 710: Round window membrane 800: Cell L: Length

Claims

1. 1. A cochlear implant catheter for delivering cells or a therapeutic drug to a patient's cochlea, comprising: a flexible implantable catheter body; the implantation catheter body defining a proximal end and a guide tip at opposite longitudinal ends; A portion of the implantation catheter body that is implanted in the cochlea of ​​the patient is defined as an implantation portion; a connection terminal on a side of the implanted portion toward the proximal end; the interior of the implantation catheter body having a central lumen extending from the center of the proximal end to the center of the guide tip; the implantable portion has at least one guide groove on an outer surface thereof and a plurality of transverse through holes extending from the outer surface of the implantable portion to the central lumen; the implantable catheter body is configured to point the guide tip toward the cochlea of ​​the patient and enter the cochlea of ​​the patient, winding along the spiral structure of the cochlea of ​​the patient, enter between the basal turn and the apical turn of the cochlea of ​​the patient, introduce the cells or the therapeutic agent from the proximal end into the central lumen, pass through the central lumen and the multiple lateral through-holes, and enter the interior of the cochlea; a guide groove extending along a spiral path in the longitudinal direction of the catheter body, the guide groove being a groove extending along the longitudinal direction of the catheter body and along the path of the central axis of the catheter body, so as to make the catheter body easier to bend when inserted into the cochlea of ​​the patient and to reduce overflow of lymphatic fluid in the cochlea;

2. The cochlear implantation catheter of claim 1, wherein the length of the implantation portion of the implantation catheter body is configured to be between 8 mm and 30 mm, and the diameter of the implantation portion is configured to be between 0.3 mm and 1.0 mm.

3. The cochlear implantation catheter of claim 2, wherein the central lumen has a diameter of 300 μm to 500 μm, and the plurality of lateral through-holes have a diameter of 50 μm to 300 μm.

4. The cochlear implantation catheter of claim 2, wherein the central lumen has a diameter of 100 μm to 200 μm, and the plurality of lateral through-holes have a diameter of 10 μm to 50 μm.

5. The cochlear implantation catheter according to claim 2, wherein the implantation catheter body is provided with a protruding ring at the boundary between the connection terminal and the embedded portion, and the diameter of the protruding ring is larger than the diameter of the embedded portion of the implantation catheter body and the connection terminal.

6. The cochlear implantation catheter according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the guide grooves is a spiral groove, and the spiral angle of the at least one of the guide grooves is between 15 degrees and 60 degrees.

7. The cochlear implantation catheter of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the guide grooves is a linear groove and is provided at equal angular intervals on the outside of the implantation catheter body.

8. The cochlear implantation catheter according to claim 1 , wherein the groove depth of at least one of the guide grooves is configured to be 10 μm to 200 μm.

9. 1. A cell delivery device for delivering cells or a therapeutic drug to a patient's cochlea, comprising: A cochlear implant catheter according to any one of claims 1 to 8; a transmission module connected to the cochlear implantation catheter for transmitting the cells or the agent to the cochlea of ​​the patient; The transmission module includes a pressure generator and a connecting tube connected to an outlet of the pressure generator. The pressure generator stores a fluid containing the cells or the drug, and drives the fluid containing the cells or the drug to send the fluid containing the cells or the drug from the outlet to the connecting tube; A cell transmission device in which one end of the connecting tube relative to the pressure generator is connected to the proximal end of the implanted catheter body, and the cells or the drug enter the central lumen of the implanted catheter, pass through the central lumen and the multiple lateral through holes, and enter the inside of the cochlea of ​​the patient.

10. The cell transmission device of claim 9, wherein the transmission module is configured to deliver the fluid to the cochlear implantation catheter at a flow rate of 0.1 sccm to 0.5 sccm when delivering a fluid with a viscosity of 2 Pas to 5 Pas, and the pressure of the fluid is in the range of 1000 MPa to 1500 MPa.

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