Delivery Catheter System With Micro and Macro Movement Control

Abstract

A method of delivering and deploying a prosthetic valve includes percutaneously advancing a catheter to a treatment site, proximally retracting an outer shaft relative to an inner shaft to expose the prosthetic valve such that the prosthetic valve self-expands to a radially expanded configuration, disconnecting a tip retractor from a handle of the catheter, and proximally retracting the tip retractor to proximally retract the inner shaft and a nosecone attached to a distal end of the inner shaft relative to the outer shaft and/or the handle.

1 . A method of delivering and deploying a prosthetic valve, comprising:
 percutaneously advancing a catheter to a treatment site, the catheter including the prosthetic heart valve disposed between an outer shaft and an inner shaft of the catheter;   proximally retracting the outer shaft relative to the inner shaft to expose the prosthetic valve such that the prosthetic valve self-expands to a radially expanded configuration;   disconnecting a tip retractor from a handle of the catheter; and   proximally retracting the tip retractor to proximally retract the inner shaft and a nosecone attached to a distal end of the inner shaft relative to the outer shaft.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein proximally retracting the outer shaft comprises rotating an actuator of the handle. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tip retractor is connected to the handle during the step of proximally retracting the outer shaft. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein disconnecting the tip retractor from the handle comprises pushing at least one button to release the tip retractor from the handle. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein pushing at least one button comprises pushing two buttons in a direction towards each other. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising proximally retracting the handle with the tip retractor connected thereto after releasing the prosthetic valve. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein disconnecting the tip retractor and proximally retracting the tip retractor are performed after the step of proximally retracting the handle. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein disconnecting the tip retractor and proximally retracting the tip retractor are performed after the step of proximally retracting the outer shaft to release the prosthetic valve. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein proximally retracting the tip retractor to retract the inner shaft and the nosecone relative to the outer shaft comprises retracting the nosecone until a proximal end of the nosecone contacts a distal end of the outer shaft. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein proximally retracting the outer shaft relative to the inner shaft comprises actuating a micro-actuator and/or actuating a macro-actuator, wherein actuation of the micro-actuator causes fine movement of the outer shaft and actuation of the macro-actuator causes gross movement of the outer shaft. 
     
     
         11 . A method of delivering and deploying a prosthetic valve, comprising:
 percutaneously advancing a catheter to a treatment site, the catheter including the prosthetic heart valve disposed between an outer shaft and an inner shaft of the catheter;   proximally retracting the outer shaft relative to the inner shaft to expose the prosthetic valve such that the prosthetic valve self-expands to a radially expanded configuration;   disconnecting a tip retractor from a handle of the catheter; and   proximally retracting the tip retractor to proximally retract the inner shaft and a nosecone attached to a distal end of the inner shaft relative to the handle.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein proximally retracting the outer shaft comprises rotating an actuator of the handle. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the tip retractor is connected to the handle during the step of proximally retracting the outer shaft. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein disconnecting the tip retractor from the handle comprises pushing buttons to release the tip retractor from the handle. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising proximally retracting the handle with the tip retractor connected thereto after releasing the prosthetic valve. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein disconnecting the tip retractor and proximally retracting the tip retractor are performed after the step of proximally retracting the handle. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein disconnecting the tip retractor and proximally retracting the tip retractor are performed after the step of proximally retracting the outer shaft to release the prosthetic valve. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein proximally retracting the tip retractor to retract the inner shaft and the nosecone relative to the handle comprises retracting the nosecone until a proximal end of the nosecone contacts a distal end of the outer shaft. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein proximally retracting the outer shaft relative to the inner shaft comprises actuating a micro-actuator and/or actuating a macro-actuator, wherein actuation of the micro-actuator causes fine movement of the outer shaft and actuation of the macro-actuator causes gross movement of the outer shaft. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein actuation of the micro-actuator comprises rotating the micro-actuator and wherein actuation of the macro-actuator comprises depressing the macro-actuator and then translating the micro-actuator.