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

Claim 18:
19. A method of using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
(a) a guide catheter comprising a proximal rigid tube dimensioned to access a pharyngeal ostium of a patient;
(b) a sheath, 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:
(i) a body, the body being resiliently biased to radially expand from a compressed state to an expanded state, the body being in the compressed state while disposed in the sheath, the body being sized to fit in a Eustachian tube (ET) of the patient and bear against a sidewall of the ET of the patient in the expanded state to thereby secure the body to the ET, and
(ii) at least one passageway formed through the body; 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 of the patient;
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;
(d) providing relative movement between the sheath and the rod, thereby dispensing the plug out through the open distal end of the sheath into the patulous ET; and
(e) allowing the body to resiliently expand radially outwardly within the patulous ET to thereby secure the body to the patulous ET, the expanded body restricting fluid communication through the patulous ET.