A method for implanting a replacement heart valve within a diseased valve includes accessing a patient's heart by piercing a myocardium, advancing a guidewire into the patient's heart, and installing an access device in a wall of the heart. The access device preferably has at least one valve mechanism. A valve delivery device is advanced over the guidewire and through the access device. The valve delivery device has a replacement heart valve disposed along a distal end portion thereof. The replacement heart valve preferably includes an outer support structure and a leaflet valve disposed within the outer support structure. The replacement heart valve is radially expanded within the diseased valve. During implantation, the outer support structure conforms to a diameter of the diseased valve and the leaflet valve expands to a fixed size having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the diseased valve.

A medical device to be inserted into a blood vessel for effectively removing an object flowing in a biological lumen while reducing the burden on the living body includes an elongated shaft portion, and an expansion portion which is an elastically deformable cylindrical body having a plurality of gaps and in which a proximal portion or a distal portion of the cylindrical body is interlocked with the shaft portion. The expansion portion has a ring-shaped or annular bent portion which protrudes toward a proximal side position radially outside the expansion portion in a bent state of being bent along an axial direction, and an axial length of a second portion from the bent portion to a proximal end of the expansion portion is shorter than an axial length of a first portion from the bent portion to the distal end of the expansion portion.

A catheter for prevention of stroke by diverting and filtering the blood flow to carotid and vertebral arteries is provided. The catheter includes at least one balloon with an outer mesh cover that expands upon the balloon inflation and collapses upon balloon deflation. Partial inflation of balloons provides for full mesh expansion in the target vessel with resulting capturing and retrieval of embolic particles. The inflation of the balloon in the aortic arch or head vessels expands the balloon associated filtering mesh leading to both filtering and deflection of embolic particles from the cerebral circulation, while balloon deflation triggers the mesh collapse and promotes its recapturing and retrieval while minimizing the risk of spillage of captured emboli.

A device can detect and retrieve a blood clot by advancing a catheter with a clot sensing element through a patient's vascular system. The catheter can map, using an electromagnetic sensor disposed at a distal end of the clot sensing element, the patient's vascular system. A force sensor can generate a position signal indicating the clot sensing element contacted the clot in the patient's vascular system. Once located, a blood clot retrieval device can be deployed through the catheter and a lumen in the clot sensing element to remove the clot from the patient's vascular system.

An intravascular emboli capture and retrieval system for intravascular embolism protection and embolism removal or maceration. Guidewire mounted proximally and distally located multiple opening filters are deployed within the vasculature and used to part, divide and macerate embolic debris and to capture such embolic debris within the confines thereof. A deployable flexible preformed memory shaped capture sleeve is alternatively used to collapse one or more filters and embolic debris therein for subsequent proximal withdrawal from the vasculature.

A multi-basket clot capturing device that includes a distal basket connected to a wire. The distal basket may be positionable distal of the clot and operable to capture a distal portion of a clot. A proximal basket may be connected to a hypotube that is slidably axially connected to the wire. The proximal basket may be positionable proximal of the clot and operable to capture a proximal portion of the clot. A cage can form between the proximal and distal baskets around multiple portions of the clot for capturing the clot. Sliding the wire distally, or microcatheter proximally, relative to the clot causes the distal basket to move from a collapsed state to an expanded state. The cage may be around at least two portions of the clot that are opposed.

Distal protection devices (DPDs) and methods of use thereof for capturing and removing vascular debris are provided. The DPD may include a catheter having a distal region sized and shaped to be advanced in a target vessel of the patient. The distal region of the catheter may include a filter basket and fibrous filter disposed thereon, the fibrous filter upstream of the filter basket. The fibrous filter and the filter basket may both transition between a collapsed delivery state and an expanded deployed state. For example, the fibrous filter may be made of a frame coupled to a plurality of fibers, and may exhibit a helical shape in its expanded state such that the plurality of fibers capture and store vascular debris within the blood vessel. The filter basket may capture any vascular debris not captured by the fibrous filter, and may be collapsed and removed from the patient while retaining the vascular debris.

Configurations are described for assisting in the execution of a percutaneous procedure while protecting the vascular pathway to the operational theater, which may comprise diseased tissue. A railed sheath may be controllably expandable and collapsible, and may comprise two or more elongate rail structures configured to assist in the distribution of loads to associated diseased tissue structures, while also contributing to the deployment of percutaneous tools by maintaining alignment of such tools with the railed catheter and associated anatomy.

A method for deploying a medical device such as a heart valve to a desired location in a blood vessel comprising first deploying a tubular filter adjacent to at least one tributary vessel location with a filter deployment member, disengaging said deployment member and removing it, inserting an expandable sheath into the blood vessel, passing a medical device through said sheath to deploy its removing said sheath and removing said filter.

In some examples, an embolic protection system includes an elongated member, a first filter body mechanically connected to the elongated member and defining a first filter mouth and a first filter end, the first filter mouth being one of proximal or distal to the first filter end, and a second filter body mechanically connected to the elongated member and distal to the first filter body, the second filter body defining a second filter mouth and a second filter end, the second filter mouth being the one of proximal or distal to the second filter end. In some instances, at least a section of the elongated member between the first and second filter bodies may be flexible, and may be configured to conform to a shape of an arch between two vessels of a patient.