A method and apparatus for treating or removing an obstruction in the body lumen of a patient, and particularly the treatment of a pulmonary embolism is disclosed. The treatment involves macerating and dissolving the clot by providing mechanical means of breaking up the obstruction while applying a dissolving agent such as a lytic agent to the specific area. A means of aspirating the obstruction debris is provided. In addition, various means of grasping an obstruction and removing it from the body lumen are disclosed.

Retrieval of material from vessel lumens can be improved by electrically enhancing attachment of the material to the removal device. The removal device can have a core assembly that includes a hypotube coupled to a first electrical terminal and a pushwire coupled to a second electrical terminal, the pushwire extending through the hypotube lumen. An insulating layer separates the hypotube and the pushwire, and an interventional element is coupled to a distal end of the pushwire. The interventional element can be disposed adjacent to a thrombus. An electrical signal is delivered to the interventional element to promote adhesion of the thrombus to the interventional element. The electrical signal can optionally be a periodic waveform, and the total energy delivered can be between 0.75-24,000 mJ and the peak current delivered via the electrical signal can be between 0.5-5 mA.

Certain aspects relate to systems and techniques for mapping and/or navigation of an interior region of a body with a robotically-enabled medical instrument. The instrument may include a position sensor that provides positional information as the instrument navigates within the interior region. Visual indicia derived from the positional information may be superimposed on a reference image of the interior region. The visual indicia may characterize historical positions of the instrument. The instrument may include an imaging device. Images of the interior region captured with the imaging device can be linked to the position within the interior region where the images were captured.

Self-rolling mechanical atherectomy aka thrombectomy apparatuses for removing a clot from a vessel include a tractor tube portion that rolls and inverts over itself in a continuous motion, tractor-like, to draw material into the tractor tube, wherein the tractor tube rolls over itself without requiring any additional internal support at the distal-facing region of the tractor tube.

A clot removal device for removing clot from a body vessel comprising an expandable structure and an elongate member. The elongate member can have a proximal end and a distal end, the elongate member being connected to the expandable structure at its distal end. The expandable structure can have a constrained delivery configuration, an expanded clot engaging deployed configuration, and an at least partially constrained clot pinching configuration. At least a portion of the expandable structure can be configured to engage clot in the expanded deployed configuration and to pinch clot on movement from the deployed configuration to the clot pinching configuration.

A catheter is provided comprising localized regions of modified flexibility. The regions of modified flexibility may comprise a softened inner liner, for example softened via stretching the inner liner or disposing a plurality of holes in the inner liner, to modify the bending stiffness and/or tensile stiffness of the catheter. The catheter may further include an axially extending filament that at least partially overlaps the softened portion of the inner liner. The axially extending filament may include an anchoring section to anchor the at least one axially extending filament in a section of the catheter that includes the helical coil.

The invention is a device, system, and method for repairing heart valve function, which may include bisecting native valve leaflets for improved deployment of a prosthetic heart valve in the native valve annulus. The invention may include a catheter having a cutting element shaft with a cutting element configured to puncture a valve leaflet and/or make a controlled cut through the leaflet. The device may have an extendable foot configured to be positioned on an opposite side of the valve leaflet from the cutting element shaft. The device may include magnets to guide the cutting element and/or cutting element shaft in proper alignment with the extendable foot and to hold the elements in place during leaflet bisection.

A method of treating a calculi mass can include using an ultrasonic probe to produce acoustic energy and fragment the mass. The method can include varying the frequency at which fragmentation occurs to treat the mass with a resonant frequency. The ultrasonic probe can have a distal tip for contact with the mass, where the tip has a morphology for concentrating stress on the mass. The ultrasonic probe can have two or more ultrasonic horns to allow for higher voltage and power levels.

Retrieval of material from vessel lumens can be improved by electrically enhancing attachment of the material to the thrombectomy system. The system can include a catheter having a distal portion configured to be positioned adjacent to a thrombus in a blood vessel, an electrode disposed at the distal portion of the catheter, and an interventional element configured to be delivered through a lumen of the catheter. The electrode and the interventional element are each configured to be electrically coupled to an extracorporeal power supply.

A gold marker recovery device for radiotherapy positioning and its using method comprises a positioning gold marker and a recovery clamp, the positioning gold marker comprises a gold marker body and an elastic fixed structure, the elastic fixed structure comprises a fixed segment, an extending segment and a spiral segment connected in sequence; the fixed segment is embedded in the gold marker body so that the fixed segment is closely connected with the gold marker body, A magnetic ball is arranged at one end of the gold marker body away from the extending segment; the recovery clamp comprises an operating handle, the rear end of the operating handle is connected with an outer sheath tube in a hollow structure, and the outer sheath tube is connected with a zipper for driving the clamp to open and close.