Systems and methods for performing minimally invasive cardiac medical procedures
Systems and methods for creating space within the chest cavity to more easily perform minimally invasive cardiac procedures.
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This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/132,880, filed Apr. 25, 2002, which claims the benefit of provisional U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/286,623, filed on Apr. 25, 2001 entitled “Systems and Methods for Performing Minimally Invasive Cardiac Medical Procedures.”
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONI. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for performing minimally invasive cardiac medical procedures. More particularly, the present invention is directed to systems and methods for creating space within the chest cavity to more easily perform minimally invasive cardiac procedures.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Minimally invasive cardiac procedures (otherwise known as “endoscopic” or “closed chest” cardiac procedures) are gaining favor in the medical community for a variety of well-founded reasons. A primary reason for the increasing popularity of such minimally invasive procedures is the significant reduction in trauma to the patient relative to traditional “open chest” procedures, which require a sternotomy to gain access to the heart. The reduction in trauma to the patient translates into shortened periods of hospitalization, which consequently reduces the overall cost associated with such minimally invasive cardiac procedures.
An area of heightened interest is minimally invasive bypass surgery, such as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. CABG surgery involves connecting a source of arterial blood downstream from a narrow or occluded section of a coronary artery for the purpose of providing an improved supply of oxygenated blood to the vasculature of the heart. CABG surgery may be performed on a stopped heart or a beating heart. During stopped heart CABG surgery, a full cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit is employed to divert blood from the lungs for artificial oxygenation at a remote location. This may be referred to as providing “full” cardiac support. During beating heart CABG surgery, it is necessary to provide supplemental circulatory support in order to maintain the hemodynamic stability of the patient. This is preferably accomplished by providing right-heart and/or left-heart assistance, wherein blood is rerouted from one location in the heart to another under the direction of a blood pump so as to obviate the need for an artificial oxygenator, filter, tubing, saline, etc. associated with stopped heart CABG surgery. This may be referred to as providing “partial” cardiac support.
A significant challenge in performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures, such as stopped heart or beating heart CABG surgery, is the lack of space within the chest cavity. More specifically, the chest cavity is constrained in terms of the space available for the surgeon to operate within. This space constraint makes it difficult to manipulate and position the endoscopic instruments, as well as to establish adequate visualization within the chest cavity. The space constraint within the chest cavity thus makes it increasingly challenging for the physician to perform the necessary steps in the given cardiac procedure.
The present invention is directed at eliminating, or at least minimizing the effects of, the above-identified problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention incorporates a multitude of embodiments which enable the introduction of insufflation fluid (gas or liquid) into the chest cavity for the purposes of creating additional space within the chest cavity to facilitate the performance of any of a variety of minimally invasive cardiac medical procedures.
In one embodiment, the insufflation system is an access port incorporating a separate insufflation port through which insufflation fluids may be introduced to pressurize the chest cavity while the access port is employed to introduce instruments for performing the minimally invasive cardiac procedure. In a second embodiment, the access port has an elongated body capable of being introduced into an organ disposed within the chest cavity (including but not limited to the heart and associated vasculature), wherein the body includes a separate insufflation port through which insufflation fluid may be introduced into the chest cavity. Contemplated within this embodiment is a variation wherein the body of the access port can be made of a synthetic graft material (with or without an insufflation lumen) capable of being sealed and severed near the proximal region (following use) and subsequently pushed into the chest cavity (leaving the distal region sealed within the organ) for later removal and use should repeat procedures require accessing the internal organ. A third main insufflation device according to the present invention involves equipping a minimally invasive coaxial cannula assembly with a separate insufflation port for introducing insufflation fluid into the chest cavity while the cannula assembly is used within the heart to augment or replace the heart's own beating function. This feature of augmenting or replacing the heart's own beating function during the insufflation of the chest cavity is a significant aspect of the present invention in that it provides the ability to counteract or overcome the heart's diminished pumping ability (particularly on the thin-walled right side of the heart) due to any collapse of the heart chambers or associated vasculature which stems from insufflating the chest cavity. In this regard, a peripheral access coaxial cannula assembly may be similarly employed to augment or replace the heart's own beating function. In both cases, the cardiac output of the heart is maintained. In the context of right heart support during beating heart surgery, both coaxial cannulation systems also serve to reroute blood past the right ventricle. This rerouting past the right ventricle effectively empties the right ventricle, providing yet another space creating mechanism within the chest cavity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. It is furthermore to be readily understood that, although discussed below primarily within the context of minimally invasive CABG surgery, the chest-cavity-space-creation (CCSC) systems of the present invention may be employed in any number of cardiac procedures. The CCSC systems disclosed herein boast a variety of inventive features and components that warrant patent protection, both individually and in combination.
Referring initially to
The sealing conduit 10 of this embodiment is dimensioned to be introduced into the chest cavity 3 through an aperture 5 formed in the chest wall 7. The sealing conduit 10 may be constructed from any number of biocompatible materials suitable for medical use, including but not limited to polymeric material or stainless steel. The central lumen 16 preferably is circular in cross section and has a sufficient diameter to receive different sizes of surgical and diagnostic instruments to be used at an operative site in the body. Although shown having a generally tubular shape, it is to be readily understood that the cylindrical member 14 may be non-tubular in configuration.
As further detailed in
In an important aspect of the present invention, the insufflation port 12 may then be used to introduce insufflation fluid into the chest cavity 3 for the purposes of creating space therein to facilitate the cardiac medical procedure. As shown in
The advantages of the foregoing embodiment are equally applicable to those that follow, and consequently certain common elements may not be reiterated below.
According to still further aspects of the present invention, the chest-cavity-space-creation feature may be accomplished or augmented via intravascular cannulation systems capable of providing right and/or left heart support during beating heart surgery.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concepts thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. An apparatus for facilitating closed-chest cardiac medical procedures, comprising:
- an insufflation system capable of introducing fluid into the chest cavity of a patient in an amount sufficient to create space within said chest cavity; and
- a blood pumping system for providing at least one of right heart support and left heart support during beating heart surgery to unload at least one of the right ventricle and left ventricle, thereby creating additional space within said chest cavity.
2. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said insufflation system is capable of providing said fluid having a temperature sufficiently lower than that of said patient so as to cool the organs within said chest cavity during surgery.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 13, 2004
Publication Date: Jan 27, 2005
Applicant:
Inventors: Walid Aboul-Hosn (Fair Oaks, CA), Michael DeVries (Fair Oaks, CA), Bruce Baker (Placerville, CA), William Kanz (Sacramento, CA), Jonathan Spangler (San Diego, CA)
Application Number: 10/918,295