TRANSTHORACIC DRUG DELIVERY DEVICE

摘要

The present invention provides a transthoracic drug delivery device (10) that utilizes pressure to determine the precise location of the distal tip (18) of the delivery tube (14) of the device to insure that therapeutic substances are ejected into the myocardium (4) and not dissipated in unintended tissue locations. In one embodiment the drug delivery device (10) comprises a pressure sensing tube (12) mounted in parallel to a drug delivery tube (14) wherein the tubes are staggered so that the pressure tube (12) extends beyond the delivery tube (14). In another embodiment, a steerable syringe is provided so that multiple sites in the myocardium can be treated with a therapeutic substance with only one penetration into the heart. Once the delivery tube (28) of the syringe penetrates the left ventricle, its distal tip (32) can be deflected back toward the endocardial surface (6) and the tube (28) withdrawn proximally to cause penetration of the tip (32) into the myocardium (4). The deflectable tip (32) can be adjusted to a different deflection angle and the delivery tube (28) rotated to make available a circular array of points that may be accessed by the syringe.