Patent ID: 11925530
Assignee: ACCLARENT, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 13:
14. A method of using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
(a) a guide catheter comprising a rigid tube dimensioned to provide access to a pharyngeal ostium of a patient;
(b) a sheath slidably contained within the guide catheter, the sheath being sized to fit in a head of the patient, the sheath having an open distal end;
(c) a plug disposed within the sheath, the plug including an elastomeric body, the elastomeric body being resiliently biased to radially expand from a compressed state to an expanded state, the elastomeric body being in the compressed state while disposed in the sheath, the elastomeric body being sized to fit in a Eustachian tube (ET) of the patient and bear against a sidewall of the ET in the expanded state to thereby secure the plug to the ET; and
(d) a rod disposed within the sheath, the rod being positioned proximally in relation to the plug, the rod and the sheath being operable to cooperate to dispense the plug out through the open distal end of the sheath into the ET;
the method comprising:
(a) positioning the rigid tube of the guide catheter in a nasopharynx of the patient;
(b) orienting a distal end of the rigid tube toward the pharyngeal ostium of the patient;
(c) positioning the sheath in or near the ET of the patient via the guide catheter, the ET being in a patulous state; and
(d) providing relative movement between the sheath and the rod, thereby driving the plug out of the sheath into the patulous ET, the elastomeric body of the driven plug resiliently expanding radially outwardly within the patulous ET to thereby secure the plug to the patulous ET, the expanded elastomeric body of the plug restricting fluid communication through the patulous ET to thereby treat the patulous ET.