Heartport, Inc.

Other

Hearport, Inc.

Brian S Donlon

Hanson S Gifford, Iii

Stephen W Boyd

William S Peters

Michi E Garrison

John Henry Stevens

Daniel C Rosenman

Richard L Mueller

Matthias Vaska

David W Snow

Alan R Rapacki

Lee R Bolduc

Philip R Houle

Sylvia W Fan

S Christopher Daniel

John H Stevens

Timothy R Machold

Charles S Taylor

Alex T Roth

Kirsten L Valley

Craig L Adams

Timothy C Corvi

Richard J Mueller, Jr

Jan Komtebedde

Robert L Lathrop, Jr

Wiley Alan Kittrell

Gerald R Anderson

Richard M Romley

George Crothall

Sean Christopher Daniel

Timothy J Corvi

Keke J Lepulu

James B Mullin

Sylvester B Lucatero

A method of treatment of congestive heart failure comprises the steps of introducing an aortic occlusion catheter through a patient's peripheral artery, the aortic occlusion catheter having an occluding member movable from a collapsed position to an expanded position; positioning the occluding member in the patient's ascending aorta; moving the occluding member from the collapsed shape to the expanded shape after the positioning step; introducing cardioplegic fluid into the patient's coronary blood vessels to arrest the patient's heart; maintaining circulation of oxygenated blood through the patient's arterial system; and reshaping an outer wall of the patient's heart while the heart is arrested so as to reduce the transverse dimension of the left ventricle. The ascending aorta may be occluded and cardioplegic fluid delivered by means of an occlusion balloon attached to the distal end of an elongated catheter positioned transluminally in the aorta from a femoral, subclavian, or other appropriate peripheral artery.

Minimally-invasive devices and methods for treatment of congestive heart failure

Surgical methods and instruments are disclosed for performing port-access or closed-chest coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery in multivessel coronary artery disease. In contrast to standard open-chest CABG surgery, which requires a median sternotomy or other gross thoracotomy to expose the patient's heart, port-access CABG surgery is performed through small incisions or access ports made through the intercostal spaces between the patient's ribs, resulting in greatly reduced pain and morbidity to the patient. In situ arterial bypass grafts, such as the internal mammary arteries and/or the right gastroepiploic artery, are prepared for grafting by thoracoscopic or laparoscopic takedown techniques. Free grafts, such as a saphenous vein graft or a free arterial graft, can be used to augment the in situ arterial grafts. The graft vessels are anastomosed to the coronary arteries under direct visualization through a cardioscopic microscope inserted through an intercostal access port. Retraction instruments are provided to manipulate the heart within the closed chest of the patient to expose each of the coronary arteries for visualization and anastomosis. Disclosed are a tunneler and an articulated tunneling grasper for rerouting the graft vessels, and a finger-like retractor, a suction cup retractor, a snare retractor and a loop retractor for manipulating the heart. Also disclosed is a port-access topical cooling device for improving myocardial protection during the port-access CABG procedure. An alternate surgical approach using an anterior mediastinotomy is also described.

Devices and methods for port-access multivessel coronary artery bypass surgery

Devices and methods are provided for temporarily inducing cardioplegic arrest in the heart of a patient and for establishing cardiopulmonary bypass in order to facilitate surgical procedures on the heart and its related blood vessels. Specifically, a catheter based system is provided for isolating the heart and coronary blood vessels of a patient from the remainder of the arterial system and for infusing a cardioplegic agent into the patient's coronary arteries to induce cardioplegic arrest in the heart. The system includes an endoaortic partitioning catheter having an expandable balloon at its distal end which is expanded within the ascending aorta to occlude the aortic lumen between the coronary ostia and the brachiocephalic artery. Means for centering the catheter tip within the ascending aorta include specially curved shaft configurations, eccentric or shaped occlusion balloons and a steerable catheter tip, which may be used separately or in combination. The shaft of the catheter may have a coaxial or multilumen construction. The catheter may further include piezoelectric pressure transducers at the distal tip of the catheter and within the occlusion balloon. Means to facilitate nonfluoroscopic placement of the catheter include fiberoptic transillumination of the aorta and a secondary balloon at the distal tip of the catheter for atraumatically contacting the aortic valve. The system further includes a dual purpose arterial bypass cannula and introducer sheath for introducing the catheter into a peripheral artery of the patient.

Endovascular system for arresting the heart

Systems and methods are disclosed for performing less-invasive surgical procedures within the heart. A method for less-invasive repair or replacement of a cardiac valve comprises placing an instrument through an intercostal access port and through a penetration in a wall of a vessel in communication with the heart, advancing the instrument into the heart, and using the instrument to perform a surgical intervention on a cardiac valve in the heart under visualization through an intercostal access port. The surgeons hands are kept outside of the chest during each step. The surgical intervention may comprise replacing the cardiac valve with a prosthetic valve, wherein the native valve is removed using a tissue removal instrument, the native valve annulus is sized with a specialized sizing device, a prosthetic valve is introduced through an intercostal access port and through the penetration in the vessel, and the prosthetic valve is secured at the native valve position, all using instruments positioned through intercostal access ports without placing the hands inside the chest. Systems and devices for performing these procedures are also disclosed.

Lens-invasive devices and methods for cardiac valve surgery

An apparatus for minimizing the risk of air embolism includes an instrument delivery member having a gas outlet for delivering gas into a patient's thoracic cavity. The gas is directed across an opening in the instrument delivery member to help retain the gas in the patient's thoracic cavity. The gas is preferably carbon dioxide which is more soluble in blood than air which will thereby decrease the likelihood of the patient receiving an embolism due to trapped air in the patient's heart and great vessels after surgery.

Method and apparatus for minimizing the risk of air embolism when performing a procedure in a patient's thoracic cavity

Tunneling instrument for port access multivessel coronary artery bypass surgery

Devices and methods are provided for less-invasive surgical treatment of cardiac valves whereby the need for a gross thoracotomy or median sternotomy is eliminated. In one aspect of the invention, a delivery system for a cardiac valve prosthesis such as an annuloplasty ring or prosthetic valve includes an elongated handle configured to extend into the heart through an intercostal space from outside of the chest cavity, and a prosthesis holder attached to the handle for releasably holding a prosthesis. The prosthesis holder is attached to the handle in such a way that the holder, prosthesis and handle have a profile with a height smaller than the width of an intercostal space when the adjacent ribs are unretracted, preferably less than about 30 mm. In a further aspect, the invention provides a method for repairing or replacing a heart valve which includes the steps of introducing a prosthesis through an intercostal space and through a penetration in a wall of the heart, and securing the prosthesis to an interior wall of the heart, wherein each step is carried out without cutting, removing, or significantly retracting the ribs or sternum.

Less-invasive devices and methods for treatment of cardiac valves

A surgical microscope comprising a microscope body, lens means attached to the microscope body for magnifying an object image, an eyepiece attached to the microscope body for viewing the magnified object image, and coupling means attached to the microscope body for retaining a supplementary lens in optical alignment with the lens means, the coupling means being configured for introducing the supplementary lens through a percutaneous penetration into a body cavity, wherein the eyepiece and the lens means are configured to facilitate stereoscopic viewing. In a variation of the surgical microscope, a plurality of binocular eyepieces are attached to the microscope body to allow multiple persons to contemporaneously view the magnified object image.

Stereoscopic percutaneous visualization system

Surgical methods and instruments are disclosed for performing port-access or closed-chest coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery in multivessel coronary artery disease. In contrast to standard open-chest CABG surgery, which requires a median stemotomy or other gross thoracotomy to expose the patient's heart, port-access CABG surgery is performed through small incisions or access ports made through the intercostal spaces between the patient's ribs, resulting in greatly reduced pain and morbidity to the patient. In situ arterial bypass grafts, such as the internal mammary arteries and/or the right gastroepiploic artery, are prepared for grafting by thoracoscopic or laparoscopic takedown techniques. Free grafts, such as a saphenous vein graft or a free arterial graft, can be used to augment the in situ arterial grafts. The graft vessels are anastomosed to the coronary arteries under direct visualization through a cardioscopic microscope inserted through an intercostal access port. Retraction instruments are provided to manipulate the heart within the closed chest of the patient to expose each of the coronary arteries for visualization and anastomosis. Disclosed are a tunneler and an articulated tunneling grasper for rerouting the graft vessels, and a finger-like retractor, a suction cup retractor, a snare retractor and a loop retractor for manipulating the heart. Also disclosed is a port-access topical cooling device for improving myocardial protection during the port-access CABG procedure. An alternate surgical approach using an anterior mediastinotomy is also described.

Device and methods for port-access multivessel coronary artery bypass surgery

Surgical methods and instruments are disclosed for performing port-access or closed-chest coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery in multivessel coronary artery disease. In contrast to standard open-chest CABG surgery, which requires a median sternotomy or other gross thoracotomy to expose the patient's heart, post-access CABG surgery is performed through small incisions or access ports made through the intercostal spaces between the patient's ribs, resulting in greatly reduced pain and morbidity to the patient. In situ arterial bypass grafts, such as the internal mammary arteries and/or the right gastroepiploic artery, are prepared for grafting by thoracoscopic or laparoscopic takedown techniques. Free grafts, such as a saphenous vein graft or a free arterial graft, can be used to augment the in situ arterial grafts. The graft vessels are anastomosed to the coronary arteries under direct visualization through a cardioscopic microscope inserted through an intercostal access port. Retraction instruments are provided to manipulate the heart within the closed chest of the patient to expose each of the coronary arteries for visualization and anastomosis. Disclosed are a tunneler and an articulated tunneling grasper for rerouting the graft vessels, and a finger-like retractor, a suction cup retractor, a snare retractor and a loop retractor for manipulating the heart. Also disclosed is a port-access topical cooling device for improving myocardial protection during the port-access CABG procedure. An alternate surgical approach using an anterior mediastinotomy is also described.

An aortic occlusion catheter has a blood return lumen for returning oxygenated blood to a patient and an occluding member for occluding the patient's ascending aorta. The blood return lumen has openings on both sides of the occluding member for infusing oxygenated blood on both sides of the occluding member.

Methods and devices for occluding a patient's ascending aorta

An apparatus for minimizing the risk of air embolism includes an instrument delivery member,having a gas outlet,for delivering gas into a patient's thoracic cavity. The gas is directed across an opening,in the instrument delivery member,to help retain the gas in the patient's thoracic cavity. The gas is preferably carbon dioxide which is more soluble in blood than air which will thereby decrease the likelihood of the patient receiving an embolism due to trapped air in the patient's heart and great vessels after surgery.

A device for minimizing displacements of the heart when performing a beating heart surgical procedure including two heart engaging members. The heart engaging members are slidably coupled to a retractor. The heart engaging members may be rotated and extended as necessary to reach the target site on the patient's heart. The heart engaging members have curved distal ends which are configured to engage a coronary shunt positioned in the coronary artery. A suture extends around the coronary and is coupled to the heart engaging members.

Device and method for minimizing heart displacements during a beating heart surgical procedure

Minimally-invasive devices and methods for treatment of congestive heart

Growing community of inventors

Los Altos Hills, CA, United States of America

Brian S Donlon