US 11,850,372 B1
Bi-directional access to tumors
Nassir Mokarram-Dorri, Durham, NC (US); Ravi Bellamkonda, Durham, NC (US); Barun Brahma, Atlanta, GA (US); James Leo Pokorney, Northfield, MN (US); Jack Cabell Griffis, III, Vero Beach, FL (US); and Donald Kenneth Griffin, II, Marietta, GA (US)
Assigned to DUKE UNIVERSITY, Durham, NC (US)
Filed by Duke University, Durham, NC (US)
Filed on Dec. 3, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/701,448.
Application 16/701,448 is a continuation of application No. 16/432,475, filed on Jun. 5, 2019, granted, now 10,493,233.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/680,893, filed on Jun. 5, 2018.
Int. Cl. A61M 25/00 (2006.01); B82Y 15/00 (2011.01); B82Y 5/00 (2011.01); A61M 25/02 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 25/0021 (2013.01) [B82Y 5/00 (2013.01); B82Y 15/00 (2013.01); A61L 2400/12 (2013.01); A61M 2025/006 (2013.01); A61M 2025/0042 (2013.01); A61M 2025/0213 (2013.01); A61M 2210/0687 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for guiding cells, the apparatus comprising:
an axially elongated tube having a sidewall defining a lumen within the tube, the lumen having a closed distal end and an open proximal end;
an inlet formed in the sidewall, the inlet opening being elongated along the axial direction;
a reservoir device defining a reservoir within the reservoir device, wherein the reservoir comprises a base portion having a reservoir base opening, and wherein a proximal end portion of the tube extends through the reservoir base opening such that the tube lumen is in fluid communication with the reservoir;
a lock ring for securing the proximal end portion of the tube to the base portion of the reservoir by pinching the sidewall of the tube between the lock ring and the base portion of the reservoir; and
a nanofiber structure having a distal end portion disposed within the lumen at a position distal to the inlet opening, the nanofiber structure extending in the axial direction outward from the lumen and into the reservoir device to a location within the reservoir,
wherein the tube lumen is patent between its distal end and proximal end with only the nanofiber structure disposed therein.