Patent ID: 6565528
Filing Date: 2003-05-20
Classification: A61B,A61M

Abstract:
A drug-delivery tool for delivering a drug to body tissue, such as a heart-wall, comprising:(a) an accessing device having distal and proximal ends, an inner lumen extending therebetween, a drug-delivery reservoir adapted to hold such drug, and a user-control structure at the accessing device's proximal end, (b) a tissue-penetrating implement carried at the accessing device's distal end for axial movement into and out of the lumen, the implement having first and second expandable members which are disposed in a substantially co-extension condition, when the implement is disposed in a retracted condition within the lumen, and an expanded, spaced-apart condition when the implement is advanced to an extended condition out of the lumen, at least one of the members having a tip for penetrating such tissue (c) a first operative connection between the control structure and the implement which is operable, upon user activation of the control structure, to advance the implement from its retracted to its extended condition, wherein, when the accessing device's distal end is placed against a surface region of the tissue, the implement is advanced into the tissue, causing the two expandable members to expand to form a cavity within the tissue, and (d) a second operative connection between the control structure and the reservoir which is operable, upon user activation of the control structure, to deliver drug from the reservoir into such cavity.