Implant delivery assembly with distal protection feature

Abstract

A delivery system for deploying a medical implant includes an elongate delivery wire assembly slidably disposed within a delivery catheter lumen, the delivery wire assembly having an implant loading region configured for seating the implant when the delivery wire assembly is constrained within the delivery catheter lumen and the implant is in a compressed delivery configuration, the delivery wire assembly further including an implant distal protection feature having a central portion coupled to the delivery wire assembly distal of the implant loading region, and a peripheral portion extending proximally from the central portion to at least partially cover a distal end portion of the implant when the delivery wire assembly, implant and implant distal protection feature are constrained within the delivery catheter lumen, wherein the peripheral portion remains extending in the proximal direction when the implant assumes an expanded configuration after being released from the delivery catheter lumen.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A delivery system for deploying an intravascular implant, the implant having a compressed delivery configuration and an expanded deployed configuration, the delivery system comprising:
 a tubular member having a lumen;   an elongate delivery assembly partially disposed within the tubular member lumen-and slidably translatable relative to the tubular member, wherein the elongate delivery assembly comprises an implant loading region configured for the implant to be disposed on when a distal portion of the delivery assembly including the implant is constrained within the tubular member lumen and the implant is in the compressed delivery configuration; and   an implant distal protection element comprising a central portion coupled to the elongate delivery assembly distal of the implant loading region, and a peripheral portion extending proximally from the central portion such that the peripheral portion partially covers a distal end portion of the implant when the distal portion of the elongate delivery assembly including the implant and implant distal protection element is constrained within the tubular member lumen,   wherein the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element is configured to expand and not evert from a proximally facing direction to a distally facing direction when the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element is no longer constrained by the tubular member.   
     
     
         2 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element comprises a plurality of circumferentially spaced petal-like portions that extend from the central portion. 
     
     
         3 . The delivery system of  claim 2 , wherein the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element consists of three petal-like portions. 
     
     
         4 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the petal-like portions are substantially evenly circumferentially spaced around the elongate delivery assembly. 
     
     
         5 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the elongate delivery assembly comprises a wire, coil or strand. 
     
     
         6 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the tubular member comprises a delivery catheter, micro-catheter or cannula. 
     
     
         7 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element remains extending in the proximally facing direction when the implant assumes the expanded deployed configuration after the implant has been released from the tubular member lumen and is no longer covered by the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element. 
     
     
         8 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element covers about twenty percent of a total length of the implant when the distal portion of the elongate delivery assembly including the implant and implant distal protection element is constrained within the tubular member lumen. 
     
     
         9 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element covers between about ten percent and about twenty percent of a total length of the implant when the distal portion of the elongate delivery assembly including the implant and implant distal protection element is constrained within the tubular member lumen. 
     
     
         10 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element covers between about five percent and about ten percent of a total length of the implant when the distal portion of the elongate delivery assembly including the implant and implant distal protection element is constrained within the tubular member lumen. 
     
     
         11 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element covers about five percent or less of a total length of the implant when the distal portion of the elongate delivery wire assembly including the implant and implant distal protection element is constrained within the tubular member lumen. 
     
     
         12 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the central portion of the implant distal protection element is fixedly attached to the elongate delivery assembly in a manner such that the implant distal protection element is not rotatable relative to the elongate delivery assembly. 
     
     
         13 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the central portion of the implant distal protection element is attached to the elongate delivery assembly in a manner such that the implant distal protection element is rotatable relative to the elongate delivery assembly. 
     
     
         14 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element is configured to exert negligible or insignificant forces over the distal portion of the implant as the implant expands from the compressed delivery configuration to the expanded deployed configuration. 
     
     
         15 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element substantially retains a compressed delivery configuration after the implant distal protection element radially expands and is no longer constrained by the tubular member. 
     
     
         16 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element is configured to not evert to the distally facing direction as the implant expands. 
     
     
         17 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element is configured to be withdrawn back into the tubular member without everting from the proximally facing direction to the distally facing direction. 
     
     
         18 . The delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the implant distal protection element comprises a biocompatible material having a thickness of about 0.0006″, a length of about 0.0173″. 
     
     
         19 . The delivery system of  claim 18 , wherein the peripheral portion of the implant distal protection element consists of three petal-like portions that are circumferentially spaced around and extend from the central portion.