Patent ID: 8209016

Claim:
An apparatus for managing a lead operably coupled to an implantable medical device, comprising: a lead retention element having a proximal end and a distal end and defining a lumen extending from the proximal end to the distal end, the lumen configured to slidably receive the lead; and a fixation element configured to fix the lead retention element relative to the implantable medical device in an orientation orthogonal to a lead receptacle of the device such that the proximal end of the lead retention element is closer to an opening of the lead receptacle than the distal end of the retention element, wherein the entire an aparatus is made of an elastomeric polymer; wherein the distal end of the lead retention element is configured to resiliently distend to allow the lead to be pass through the lumen of the retention element and further to firmly engage the lead to resist proximal sliding of the lead in the lumen of the retention element once the lead has been moved distally through the lumen; wherein the distal end of the retention element is configured such that an inner diameter defined by the lumen is biased to be smaller than the outer diameter of the lead when the retention element is in a relaxed state before the lead is moved into the lumen, and the resiliency of the distal end of the retention element and biasing towards the inner diameter being smaller than the outer diameter of the lead facilitates engagement between the distal end of the retention element and the lead; and wherein the fixation element comprises a band, the band having an inner circumferential dimension that is biased to be smaller, when the fixation is in a relaxed state and not on the implantable medical device an outer circumferential dimension of the implantable medical device, and the band is resiliently expandable such that the inner circumferential dimension of the band can expand to be sufficiently large to be disposed around the implantable medical device where the biasing of the inner circumferential dimension to be smaller than the outer circumferential dimension of the implantable medical device anchors the apparatus to the implantable medical device.