Flexible tissue removal devices and methods

摘要

A device for removing tissue from a patient may include an elongate flexible body having a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis therebetween, the elongate body having opposed first and second major surfaces with a lateral orientation across the axis, and a plurality of blades distributed laterally across the first major surface. Each blade may have a first end adjacent the first surface and extending to a cantilevered second end, a first edge between the first and second ends of the blade being oriented toward the distal end of the elongate body, a second edge between the first and second ends of the blade being oriented toward the proximal end of the elongate body, a height of the blade between its first and second ends, and an axial length of the blade between its first and second edges.

主权项

1. A method for modifying a target bone of a bone joint in a patient, the method comprising:
advancing a guidewire into the body and adjacent to the target bone of a bone joint so that the guidewire passes along a path through the patient where the proximal end of the guidewire extends from a first position outside of the patient's body and the distal end of the guidewire extends from a second position outside of the patient; coupling the proximal end of the guidewire to a tissue modification device outside of the body after advancing the guidewire into the body, wherein the tissue modification device is for modifying bone tissue and comprises an elongate flexible body having a tissue-modifying active region; pulling the tissue modification device behind the guidewire along the path to position the active region of the tissue modification device adjacent to the target bone of the bone joint, wherein the proximal end of the guidewire remains within the body; urging the active region of the tissue modification device against the target bone by manually reciprocating the elongate body axially along the path while a portion of the guidewire remains within the body; and
wherein coupling the proximal end of the guidewire comprises coupling the proximal end of the guidewire to a tapered distal end region of the tissue modification device.