Actuated expandable mouth thrombectomy catheter

Abstract

A clot retrieval catheter can have an expansile distal tip for flow restriction/arrest and improved aspiration efficiency and a large, distal facing mouth into which clots or other obstructions can be retrieved. The tip can be formed from a distal ring of leaflets or hoops. One or more pull cables can be retracted to actuate and radially expand the expansile distal tip. The clot retrieval catheter can have a catheter shaft with flexibility-adding features proximal of the tip. The catheter shaft can be a multi-lumen configuration with a large catheter lumen for passing auxiliary devices and directing aspiration and one or more guide lumens which can route the pull cables to the leaflets or hoops of the expansile tip. A flexible, low-modulus membrane can be disposed around at least a portion of the expansile tip and catheter shaft.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A thrombectomy catheter, the catheter comprising:
 a tubular catheter shaft comprising:
 a distal end and a catheter lumen with a longitudinal axis extending therethrough; 
 one or more pull cable guide tubes comprising pull cable lumens disposed about the circumference of the catheter lumen and extending the longitudinal length of the catheter shaft; and 
 one or more pull cables disposed within the pull cable lumens and capable of being operably tensioned by a user of the catheter; and 
   an expansile tip having a collapsed delivery configuration and a radially expanded deployed configuration, the expansile tip comprising one or more leaflets around the longitudinal axis and configured to assume a funnel profile when the expansile tip is in the expanded deployed configuration;   wherein the one or more pull cables are configured to actuate the expansile tip between the collapsed delivery configuration and the expanded deployed configuration when a tensile force is applied to the pull cables,   wherein the plurality of leaflets comprise one or more actuated leaflets and one or more passive leaflets,   wherein the one or more actuated leaflets and one or more passive leaflets comprise looped struts comprising a distal peak and one or more proximal joints connected to the catheter shaft and the looped struts of adjacent leaflets circumferentially overlap at crossover points, and   wherein the pull cables are fixedly connected at the crossover points.   
     
     
         2 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the pull cables comprise distal loops configured around the looped struts of the one or more actuated leaflets. 
     
     
         3 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the actuated leaflets and passive leaflets are configured to slide on each other as the expansile tip transitions between the collapsed delivery configuration and the radially expanded deployed configuration. 
     
     
         4 . The catheter of  claim 1 , the catheter shaft further comprising one or more distal cutaways from the pull cable guide tubes approximate the distal end, the one or more distal cutaways configured to allow the pull cables to exit the pull cable lumens at a shallow angle to the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         5 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the pull cables comprise distal loops encircling the crossover points. 
     
     
         6 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the pull cable guide tubes further extend a distance distal to the distal end of the catheter shaft. 
     
     
         7 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the proximal joints of the leaflets comprise leaflet anchors configured to engage with a plurality of anchoring slots approximate the distal end of the catheter shaft. 
     
     
         8 . The catheter of  claim 7 , wherein the leaflet anchors of adjacent leaflets are connected to one another within an anchoring slot of the plurality of anchoring slots. 
     
     
         9 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein some of the leaflets can be formed integrally with the catheter shaft while other leaflets comprise proximal joints comprising anchors that are connected to the catheter shaft. 
     
     
         10 . The catheter of  claim 7 , further comprising a collar circumscribing the distal end of the catheter shaft, the collar configured to control the axial motion of the leaflet anchors. 
     
     
         11 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the expansile tip is at least partially encapsulated by one or more outer jackets. 
     
     
         12 . A thrombectomy catheter, the catheter comprising:
 a tubular catheter shaft comprising:
 a distal end and a catheter lumen with a longitudinal axis extending therethrough; and 
 one or more pull cable guide tubes disposed about the circumference of the catheter lumen, the guide tubes having one or more pull cables disposed within pull cable lumens and capable of being operably tensioned by a user of the catheter; and 
   an expansile tip integrally formed at the distal end of the catheter shaft, the expansile tip comprising a plurality of leaflets configured to radially expand from a collapsed delivery configuration to an expanded deployed configuration when the one or more pull cables are tensioned wherein the one or more pull cables are configured to actuate the expansile tip between the collapsed delivery configuration and the expanded deployed configuration when a tensile force is applied to the pull cables,   wherein the plurality of leaflets comprise one or more actuated leaflets and one or more passive leaflets,   wherein the one or more actuated leaflets and one or more passive leaflets comprise looped struts comprising a distal peak and one or more proximal joints connected to the catheter shaft and the looped struts of adjacent leaflets circumferentially overlap at crossover points, and   wherein the pull cables are fixedly connected at the crossover points.   
     
     
         13 . The catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the pull cables comprise distal loops configured around the looped struts of the one or more actuated leaflets. 
     
     
         14 . The catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the actuated leaflets and passive leaflets are configured to slide on each other as the expansile tip transitions between the collapsed delivery configuration and the radially expanded deployed configuration. 
     
     
         15 . The catheter of  claim 12 , the catheter shaft further comprising one or more distal cutaways from the pull cable guide tubes approximate the distal end, the one or more distal cutaways configured to allow the pull cables to exit the pull cable lumens at a shallow angle to the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         16 . The catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the pull cables comprise distal loops encircling the crossover points. 
     
     
         17 . The catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the pull cable guide tubes further extend a distance distal to the distal end of the catheter shaft. 
     
     
         18 . The catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the proximal joints of the leaflets comprise leaflet anchors configured to engage with a plurality of anchoring slots approximate the distal end of the catheter shaft. 
     
     
         19 . The catheter of  claim 18 , wherein the leaflet anchors of adjacent leaflets are connected to one another within an anchoring slot of the plurality of anchoring slots. 
     
     
         20 . The catheter of  claim 1 , wherein some of the leaflets can be formed integrally with the catheter shaft while other leaflets comprise proximal joints comprising anchors that are connected to the catheter shaft.