Inventors:
George T. Gillies - Charlottesville VA, US
Richard E. Latchaw - Sacramento CA, US
Assignee:
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PATENT FOUNDATION - Charlottesville VA
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - Davis CA
International Classification:
A61M 25/09, A61B 6/00, A61M 25/00, A61B 5/05
US Classification:
604510, 600435, 604523, 600420, 600434, 604508
Abstract:
A series of embodiments of multi-lumen, multisegmented (or variable diameter) catheters and associated multi-channel flow control and measurement systems and methods for simultaneous delivery of a medium to a plurality of locations is described. The need for precise, stable reliable, and repeatable flow control in therapy delivery catheters is crucial to the efficacious treatment of the clinical manifestations of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and other such maladies. Such treatments may involve the placement of multi-lumen catheters into peripheral arterial trees, with the subsequent need to govern the flow dynamics within each individual lumen of the multi-lumen device in such a way that an optimum distribution of the agent is achieved intra-arterially. Combinations of pumps, flow monitors, pressure monitors, feedback loops and related hardware and software collectively capable of achieving this goal are described. In other embodiments, this device and method could be used for infusions into tissues and solid organs, and microcoil systems can be added to the various components of the catheter systems to improve the imaging quality during MR-guided procedures.