Electrophysiology mapping and visualization systems are described herein where such devices may be used to visualize tissue regions as well as map the electrophysiological activity of the tissue. Such a system may include a deployment catheter and an attached hood deployable into an expanded configuration. In use, the imaging hood is placed against or adjacent to a region of tissue to be imaged in a body lumen that is normally filled with an opaque bodily fluid such as blood. A translucent or transparent fluid, such as saline, can be pumped into the imaging hood until the fluid displaces any blood, thereby leaving a clear region of tissue to be imaged via an imaging element in the deployment catheter. A position of the catheter and/or hood may be tracked and the hood may also be used to detect the electrophysiological activity of the visualized tissue for mapping.

The invention relates to an infusion catheter device. This catheter device 10 has an elongate, substantially tubular shape defining a longitudinal axis, a distal end (D) and a proximal end (P), configured to be introduced into a conduit (50) having an inner wall (54) and an outer wall (56) and comprising at least one partial or total obstruction (60) or occlusion to be treated, said device comprising, at its distal end (D), one or more infusion orifices (16, 18, 20, 22) for an infusion liquid (LI), and, upstream from the one or more infusion orifices, at the proximal side (P) of the infusion catheter (10), at least one obturating element (70) for temporary obturating, configured to treat said obstruction (60) or occlusion and to perform the infusion of the infusion liquid (LI) downstream from the obturating element (70) and in the obturating position. This device is suitable in particular for cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology.

A catheter that fits within a blood vessel wall includes electrodes aligned along a longitudinal axis of the catheter that produce unfocused shock waves that propagate radially toward the blood vessel wall for treatment.

Disclosed herein are systems, devices, and methods for the removal of objects from the body. The device may be a urethral catheter configured to aspirate kidney stones from the urinary tract through one or more aspiration ports at the distal face or along a lateral side of the catheter. The catheter may include one or more irrigation ports at the distal face or along the lateral side of the catheter for dislodging kidney stones. The device may be steerable. The spatial arrangement of the one or more irrigation ports with respect to the one or more aspiration ports may vary. The device may include an irrigation tube and/or a shield member configured to spatially confine the kidney stones adjacent the catheter. Various temporal patterns of aspiration and irrigation are disclosed for optimizing removal of kidney stones.

A medical syringe which is suitable for dispensing and injecting medical foams is described and claimed. The syringe has a standard syringe plunger and barrel arrangement but comprises a flexible annular flange on the inner surface of the barrel. The annular flange extends inwards and forwardly from a base portion, affixed to the inner surface of the barrel to contact the plunger shaft and form a seal. The shape and orientation of the annular flange enables injection of medical foam with reduced sputtering of the syringe contents which make administration of sclerosing foams more controllable.

A treatment method and medical device are disclosed for cutting a substance inside a body lumen. The medical device for cutting substances inside a body lumen, the medical device including a rotatable tubular drive shaft; a treatment member connected to a distal side of the drive shaft; an elongated tube extending through the drive shaft; and a bearing member connecting a distal side of the treatment member and the elongated tube.

Apparatus and methods for internal surgical procedures are disclosed. The apparatus and methods may involve supporting internal body locations, creating submucosal separations (blebs), and/or for resecting mucosal tissue separated from underlying tissue by a bleb.

A method for improving a flow condition through a catheter inserting a distal end of a sheath within the vasculature of a subject, placing the aspiration catheter through the sheath and advancing the aspiration catheter such that an open distal end of the aspiration lumen is distal to a distal end of the sheath and is in proximity to a thrombus within a blood vessel of a subject, coupling an extension conduit in fluid communication with a lumen of the sheath to a second fluid source, and activating a pump such that pressurized fluid from the first fluid source is applied to the supply lumen of the aspiration catheter, wherein when an active flowing condition is not present, fluid from the second fluid source is caused to flow through the lumen of the sheath.

An apparatus is provided that is operable in different modes to perform various functions for treating a body lumen. The apparatus includes a shaft including proximal and distal ends, a lumen extending there between, and a balloon on the distal end. The apparatus includes a valve on the distal end that selectively opens or closes an outlet communicating with the lumen. With the valve open, fluid introduced into the lumen exits the outlet into a body lumen. With the valve closed, fluid introduced into the lumen expands the balloon. The valve may be biased to be closed, e.g., by a spring element disposed within the balloon. Optionally, the apparatus also includes an actuator for expanding a helical member within the balloon interior, e.g., either before or after expanding the balloon, such that the helical member and balloon may adopt an expanded helical shape for removing material within a body lumen.

A system of devices for treating an artery includes an arterial access sheath adapted to introduce an interventional catheter into an artery and an elongated dilator positionable within the internal lumen of the sheath body. The system also includes a catheter formed of an elongated catheter body sized and shaped to be introduced via a carotid artery access site into a common carotid artery through the internal lumen of the arterial access sheath. The catheter has an overall length and a distal most section length such that the distal most section can be positioned in an intracranial artery and at least a portion of the proximal most section is positioned in the common carotid artery during use.