Biodegradable blood vessel occlusion and narrowing

Abstract

A biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device, comprising: a biodegradable element; an anchoring element; wherein said anchoring element is anchored to a blood vessel wall and at least one external dimension of said biodegradable element is reduced upon biodegradation of said biodegradable element thereby pulling said blood vessel walls toward one another.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device, comprising:
 a biodegradable element;   an anchoring element sized and shaped to be anchored to a blood vessel wall when located in a blood vessel lumen; and   at least one external dimension of said biodegradable element is reduced upon biodegradation of said biodegradable element thereby pulling said blood vessel walls toward one another.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said device occludes a blood vessel upon said device deployment in said blood vessel. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said device partially occludes a blood vessel upon said device deployment in said blood vessel. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said anchoring element is made of a shape memory alloy (SMA). 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said anchoring element is made of a biocompatible polymer. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein a degradation of said biodegradable element is initiated by external degradation means. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said anchoring element comprises a plurality of anchoring legs, each said anchoring leg having at least one anchoring tooth for anchoring to a blood vessel wall and a distance between at least two of respective said anchoring teeth shortens upon biodegradation of said biodegradable element. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein said plurality of anchoring legs essentially encircles said biodegradable element. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 7 , further comprising a constriction element wherein said constriction element and upon biodegradation of said biodegradable element said constriction element applies pressure on said plurality of anchoring legs thereby bringing said plurality of anchoring legs to a closer proximity to one another. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 7 , further comprising a constriction element wherein said constriction element encircles said plurality of anchoring legs and said biodegradable element is positioned essentially inside said constriction element and upon biodegradation of said biodegradable element said constriction element applies pressure on said plurality of anchoring legs thereby pulling said plurality of anchoring legs. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein said biodegradable element being positioned between at least one of said anchoring legs and a part of said device which is adjacent to at least one of said anchoring legs and upon degradation of said biodegradable element the distance between said at least one of said anchoring legs and said part. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein said anchoring leg has a first leg part and a second leg part carrying said at least one anchoring tooth, said biodegradable element being positioned between said first leg part and said second leg part and upon degradation of said biodegradable element the distance between said first part and said second part shortens. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein said biodegradable element encircles said plurality of anchoring legs thereby fastening said plurality of anchoring legs and a distance between said plurality of anchoring legs after degradation of said biodegradable element is shorter than a distance between said plurality of anchoring legs prior to degradation of said biodegradable element. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein each of said plurality of anchoring legs further comprise a retention element and said plurality of anchoring legs have a twisted state in which said plurality of anchoring legs are twisted around one another and an untwisted state and a distance between said plurality of anchoring legs in said twisted state is bigger than a distance between said plurality of anchoring legs in said untwisted state and said biodegradable element encircles said plurality of anchoring legs in their twisted state thereby fastening said plurality of anchoring legs and said retention element restricts the movement of said biodegradable element and upon degradation of said biodegradable element said plurality of anchoring legs switch from a said twisted state to said an untwisted state. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein each of said plurality of anchoring legs is a spring shaped element. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising an internal chamber wherein said device is capsule shaped and filling of said internal chamber enlarges an external dimension of said device to fit a blood vessel. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device has an outer surface and said anchoring element comprises:
 a glue chamber internal to said capsule;   a plurality of glue channels connecting said chamber to said capsule surface; and   a bio-compatible glue;   wherein said biocompatible glue flows from said glue chamber to said outer surface through said plurality of glue channels thereby gluing said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device to a vessel wall.   
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17 , further comprising a layer and said layer is positioned external to said glue chamber and internal to biodegradable element and upon degradation of said biodegradable element said layer applies pressure on said glue chamber thereby inserting said bio-compatible glue into said plurality of glue channels. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a chamber internal to said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device; and   a channel connecting said chamber to a surface of said capsule;   wherein said channel transfers a bio-absorbable material between said chamber and an exterior of said capsule.   
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising an occlusion element, wherein said occlusion element occludes a blood vessel. 
     
     
         21 . A method for occluding and narrowing a blood vessel, comprising:
 deploying a biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device in a blood vessel; and   attaching an anchoring element of said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device to walls of said blood vessel;   wherein narrowing of said blood vessel is mechanically linked to biodegradation of said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising applying external degradation means to said device for initiating biodegradation. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising filling a chamber in said device with a bio-absorbable material. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said attachment of an anchoring element is performed by releasing bio-compatible glue from said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device and gluing of said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device to a blood vessel wall. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising filling a glue chamber in said biodegradable blood vessel narrowing device with bio-compatible glue.