The disclosure relates to a stent assembly for placement of a stent within a ureter. In many embodiments, the stent assembly includes a band coupled to a proximal end of the stent. In many such embodiments, the band may extend into the urethra and facilitate removal of the catheter without the help of a medical professional or requiring a portion of the stent assembly (e.g., suture loop) to extend outside of the patient. In various embodiments, the band may include one or more features that promote patient comfort while the stent is positioned within a body, such as by being atraumatic and/or seamless.

A passive surgical manipulator for holding and positioning a surgical instrument is described. The passive surgical manipulator has a frame, a first suspension arm arrangement connecting the frame in an articulated manner to a first joint, and a second suspension arm arrangement connecting the frame in an articulated manner to a second joint. The two suspension arm arrangements are implemented so that the first joint is displaceable in a first motion plane and the second joint is displaceable in a second motion plane. Also, a first actuating device has a first interface, a second actuating device has a second interface, a third actuating device has a third interface, and a fourth actuating device has a fourth interface for temporarily receiving a corresponding interface of a handheld drive unit for transferring an actuating motion to displace the first and second joints.

An endoscope connecting tube includes a liquid feeding index including: an exterior; an exposure hole provided on the exterior; and a flow path; and a movable member that is brought into a convex warp state toward a surface direction of the exterior when an inner pressure of a flow path reaches a predetermined value or higher, and remains in the convex warp state even when the inner pressure of the flow path reaches less than the predetermined value; and a marker that projects from the exposure hole by the movable member being brought into the convex warp state; a releasing portion that releases the convex warp state of the movable member by causing the marker to slide and push the movable member; and an insertion path into which the releasing portion is inserted.

A medical device for joining materials is provided. The device comprises a piercing element configured to penetrate materials to be joined. The piercing element is sufficiently sharp to penetrate materials to be joined and comprises a hollow interior along at least a portion of its length configured to distal advancement of a fastener therethrough; and an open tip through which the fastener can be pushed. The device can be used for fastening materials including tissue, synthetic mesh, and biologic mesh (e.g., ADM).

A surgical instrument comprising a first jaw, a moveable second jaw, and one or more mounting brackets that retain said second jaw to said first jaw is disclosed.

A medical apparatus can include an instrument comprising a shaft and a jaw assembly coupled to an end of the shaft; an image capture device; and a controller operably coupled to the image capture device to receive image data from the image capture device. The image data is from images of material gripped between jaw members of the jaw assembly and captured by the image capture device, with the controller programmed to process the received image data using at least one of optical flow and digital image correlation. A medical apparatus can include an instrument comprising a shaft, and a jaw assembly coupled to an end of the shaft, the jaw assembly comprising a pair of jaw members having opposing surfaces configured to grasp material between the opposing surfaces, wherein at least a portion of the opposing surface of a first jaw member of the pair of jaw members is transparent.

Stapling devices and staple cartridges are disclosed. A stapling device can include a jaw configured to sequentially receive a plurality of dissimilar staple cartridges having different bioabsorbable components. An adjustment module can implement a firing control algorithm based on which dissimilar staple cartridge is received in the jaw. A staple cartridge can include staples comprised of a bioabsorbable metal alloy and configured to degrade at a staple degradation rate over an expected staple life in the patient. A staple cartridge can also include an implantable layer comprised of a bioabsorbable polymer and configured to degrade at a layer degradation rate over an expected layer life in the patient. The staple degradation rate and the implantable degradation rate can be different. The implantable layer can mechanically support at least a portion of a staple for a time in the expected staple life.

A method of pairing bioabsorbable staples in a staple cartridge with the tissue being treated such that the staples are structurally sufficient during the healing window of the tissue but completely bioabsorb shortly thereafter.

A system for reshaping a valve annulus includes an elongate template having a length along a longitudinal axis and at least one concavity in a generally lateral direction along said length. The pre-shaped template is positioned against at least a region of an inner peripheral wall of the valve annulus, and at least one anchor on the template is advanced into a lateral wall of the valve annulus to reposition at least one segment of the region of the inner peripheral wall of the valve annulus into said concavity. In this way, a peripheral length of the valve annulus can be foreshortened and/or reshaped to improve coaptation of the valve leaflets and/or to eliminate or decrease regurgitation of a valve.

A skin treatment apparatus, such as a microdermabrasion or dermaplaning apparatus, includes a housing having a top end and a bottom end, a treatment head attached to the top end of the housing and arranged to exfoliate skin within a treatment area, and a cooling member provided on the bottom end of the housing arranged to cool skin within the treatment area.