Delivery apparatus and methods for vertebrostenting
View Patent ↗The invention relates to a method of delivering and deploying a stent into a curvilinear cavity within a vertebral body or other bony or body structure. The invention also relates to devices that may be used to perform the steps to deliver and deploy a stent.
1. A method of deploying a stent within an enlarged curvilinear void created in a bony structure, the method comprising the steps of:
inserting a distal end of a stent delivery system through a cannula and into a curvilinear void created along a curved pathway in a bony structure;
locking the stent delivery system to the cannula in a correct circumferential orientation with releasable locking means;
deploying a self-expanding cement-directing stent within the curvilinear void, wherein the self-expanding stent is releasably attached to the distal end of the stent delivery system;
attaching a cement injecting syringe to a proximal end of the stent delivery system;
injecting cement through the stent delivery system and into the stent;
terminating the cement injection when the volume of cement injected exceeds an interior volume of the expanded stent; and
releasing the stent from the stent delivery system.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-expanding cement-directing stent comprises a multifilament braided, polymer impregnated, self-expanding, cement-directing stent.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stent delivery system comprises a handle and an elongate shaft, and wherein the stent is releasably attached to a distal end of the elongate shaft.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the stent is released by actuating a user control mechanism on the handle.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the elongate shaft comprises at least one of an inner shaft, an outer shaft, a tubular sheath, a flexible guidewire, and an internal polymer extrusion.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein prior to the deploying step the self-expanding cement-directing stent is collapsed on a distal end of at least one of the inner shaft, the guidewire, and the polymer extrusion.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the self-expanding cement-directing stent is deployed by retracting at least one of the inner shaft, the outer shaft, the flexible guidewire, and the polymer extrusion.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein prior to the deploying step the self-expanding cement-directing stent is restrained in a collapsed condition by the tubular sheath.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the self-expanding cement-directing stent is deployed by slideably retracting the tubular sheath to allow the stent to self-expand within the enlarged curvilinear void.
10. The method of claim 3 , wherein the stent is further releasably attached at a distal end thereof.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deploying step comprises actuating a rotating cam mechanism.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distal end of the stent delivery system comprises a preformed curvature.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stent delivery system further comprises means for controlling curvature of the distal end.