System for treating embolism and associated devices and methods
Systems and methods for the intravascular treatment of clot material within a blood vessel of a human patient are disclosed herein. A method in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, positioning a distal portion of a catheter proximate to the clot material within the blood vessel. The method can further include coupling a pressure source to the catheter via a tubing subsystem including a valve or other fluid control device and, while the valve is closed, activating the pressure source to charge a vacuum. The valve can then be opened to apply the vacuum to the catheter to thereby aspirate at least a portion of the clot material from the blood vessel and into the catheter.
1. A method for the treatment of clot material within a vasculature of a patient, the method comprising:
positioning a catheter at least partially within the vasculature proximate to the clot material, wherein the catheter is configured to be fluidically coupled to a pressure source via a fluid control device, and wherein (a) opening of the fluid control device fluidically connects the pressure source to the catheter and (b) closing of the fluid control device fluidically disconnects the pressure source from the catheter;
with the fluid control device closed to inhibit fluid flow from the catheter to the pressure source, activating the pressure source to generate negative pressure within the pressure source; and
after generating the negative pressure, opening the fluid control device to apply the negative pressure to the catheter to generate a flow rate within the catheter of greater than about 60 cubic centimeters per second to thereby aspirate at least a portion of the clot material into the catheter.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the catheter has a size of 16 French.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or less.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or greater.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the flow rate is greater than about 100 cubic centimeters per second.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the catheter has a size of 20 French.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or less.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or greater.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the flow rate is greater than about 150 cubic centimeters per second.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the catheter has a size of 24 French.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or less.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or greater.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the pressure source is a syringe.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the clot material comprises a pulmonary embolism.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the clot material comprises a deep vein thrombus.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises selectively providing fluid access to a lumen of the catheter via a hemostasis valve fluidically coupled to the lumen of the catheter.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises filtering the clot material from blood via a filter fluidically coupled between the pressure source and the catheter.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the method further comprises reintroducing the filtered blood into the blood vessel.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises, after opening the fluid control device to apply the negative pressure to the catheter, permitting a pressure differential between the pressure source and the catheter to equalize in less than about 1 second.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises, after opening the fluid control device to apply the negative pressure to the catheter, permitting a pressure differential between the pressure source and the catheter to equalize in less than about 0.6 second.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises, after opening the fluid control device to apply the negative pressure to the catheter, permitting a pressure differential between the pressure source and the catheter to equalize in less than about 0.4 second.
22. A system for the intravascular treatment of clot material from within a vasculature of a patient, the system comprising:
a catheter configured to be positioned at least partially within the vasculature proximate to the clot material;
a pressure source configured to generate negative pressure; and
a fluid control device fluidically coupled between the pressure source and the catheter, wherein—
the fluid control device is configured to be closed to fluidically disconnect the pressure source from the catheter when the pressure source generates the negative pressure; and
the fluid control device is configured to be opened to fluidically connect the pressure to the catheter after the pressure source generates the negative pressure to generate a flow rate within the catheter of greater than about 60 cubic centimeters per second to thereby aspirate at least a portion of the clot material into the catheter.
23. The system of claim 22 wherein the catheter has a size of 16 French.
24. The system of claim 22 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or greater.
25. The system of claim 22 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or less.
26. The system of claim 22 wherein the flow rate is greater than about 100 cubic centimeters per second.
27. The system of claim 26 wherein the catheter has a size of 20 French.
28. The system of claim 26 wherein the pressure source has a volume of about 60 cubic centimeters or less.
29. The system of claim 22 wherein the flow rate is greater than about 150 cubic centimeters per second.
30. The system of claim 29 wherein the catheter has a size of 24 French.