APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING FILAMENTARY MATERIAL INTO A PATIENT

摘要

There are disclosed various dispensing mechanisms for dispensing filamentary material (24) through a catheter (12) into a treatment site of a patient, for example into an aneurysm sack (20) in a patient's vessel (22). In one embodiment, the dispensing assembly (30) includes a chamber having a spherical carrier (50) onto which filamentary material (24) is wound. Upon injecting driving fluid into the dispensing assembly (30) filamentary material (24) unwinds from the spherical carrier (50) and is pulled through the catheter (12) to be dispensed from the distal end (18) of the catheter. The apparatus includes a pressure sensitive valve (55) disposed at the inlet or the outlet of the receptacle, the pressure sensitive valve being closed when the pressure of driving fluid is below a threshold and open when the pressure of driving fluid is above the threshold. The pressure sensitive valve (55), when open, allows fluid flow through the chamber and dispensation of filamentary material from the outlet.