Implantable medical sensor and fixation system

摘要

An implantable medical device, such as a sensor for monitoring a selected internally detectable physiological parameter of a patient, is attached to a fixation member that is deployable within the patient to position and orient the sensor to enable it to perform its function. The fixation member may be configured to lie in a single plane when deployed or may be tubular in shape. The attachment of the housing and fixation member includes providing the fixation member with a linear attachment strut that is non-circular in cross section and providing the housing with external members that define an elongate channel, non-circular in cross section and receptive to the attachment strut. The attachment strut can be inserted transversely into the channel and the external member can be crimped over the strut to secure the housing and fixation member together.

主权项

1. An implantable sensor assembly adapted for placement in a selected region of a human pulmonary artery tree, the assembly comprising:
a wire-like fixation member self-expandable from a low profile configuration to an expanded configuration and formed to lie in a single plane when expanded, the wire-like fixation member further adapted to engage the wall of a patient's blood vessel to thereby maintain a position of the sensor assembly in the vessel, the fixation member having proximal and distal ends, at least the distal end comprising a distal loop having a relaxed height approximately twenty percent greater than a predetermined effective diameter at the selected region, and an elongate, linear attachment strut extending proximally from the distal loop such that the distal loop and strut lie substantially in the single plane; and a sensor housing containing sensing elements adapted to sense a physiological parameter within the patient's vessel, the housing having proximal and distal ends and a longitudinal sidewall extending between the ends; wherein the sensor housing includes a connector extending along the longitudinal sidewall, the connector being attached securely and directly to the attachment strut.