Apparatus for curving an implantable medical device in a lumen

摘要

An introducer assembly (100) including at its distal end a dilator tip (20) and an inner catheter for supporting an implantable medical device (1) for deployment, is provided with a plurality of strut elements (102, 202) extending from the dilator tip (20) to the proximal end of the medical device (1). The strut elements (102, 202) act to apply both a pulling and a pushing force against the proximal end of the medical device (1), having the effect of assisting in the correct positioning of the proximal end of the medical device in a patient's lumen, particularly where this is curved such as with the aortic arch. The strut elements (102, 202) form part of the introducer assembly and are removed from the patient following the deployment procedure. The device avoids the need for bare stents at the end of a stent graft.

主权项

1. An introducer assembly for fitting an implantable medical device into a lumen of a patient, the implantable medical device being provided with a proximal end and a distal end; the introducer assembly comprising:
a flexible carrier element with the implantable medical device disposed thereon, the carrier element including a distal end, a nose cone directly connected to the flexible carrier element at the distal end of the flexible carrier element, and a distal portion upon which the implantable medical device is disposed proximal of the nose cone and over the flexible carrier element, the nose cone having a proximal end, and a plurality of strut elements fixedly connected to the proximal end of the nose cone or to the flexible carrier element adjacent the nose cone and coupling the carrier element to the proximal end of the implantable medical device, wherein each of the plurality of strut elements is releasably connected to the proximal end of the implantable device and has sufficient rigidity to provide both a pulling force and a pushing force against the proximal end of the implantable medical device during deployment thereof to position different regions of the proximal end of the implantable medical device relative to one another in a distal direction and a proximal direction along a lumen of a patient, and wherein each of the plurality of strut elements extends to a user end of the introducer assembly and each of the plurality of strut elements is individually movable to provide the pushing and pulling force against the proximal end of the implantable medical device.