The invention relates to a positioning device (1) comprising a distal part (8) that is adapted to be delivered through a defect, preferably an opening in a ventricular or atrial septum. It comprises a mechanism to selectively expand the distal part (8), such that before expansion, it can be deployed through said defect, and upon expansion, is mechanically prevented from being retracted through the same defect. Thus, the positioning device (1) is temporarily engaged at the defect site.

The present disclosure relates to devices and methods for measuring expansion diameter, radial force exerted against surrounding tissue, and pressure recovery across prosthetic heart valves, during valve implantation procedures.

An intravascular articulating retrieval apparatus may be used to move objects within the vasculature, such as to remove an intravascular filter, tissue and other items from the vasculature. The apparatus has a user interface to manipulate a first and second actuating portion that are coupled to the distal end of the apparatus conduit. A retrieval apparatus may include forceps coupled to the second actuating portion whereby the retrieval actuator opens and closes the forceps for retrieval of an IVF or other device, such as stent or stent graft. An intravascular articulating retrieval apparatus may be used to dissect thrombus from the interior of the vascular wall, move a stent or remove a portion of a stent or stent graft to provide better blood flow or to allow blood flow into a branched vessel.

A system includes a lock and release connector, an implantable medical device, and an outer tube. The lock and release connector includes a connector body defining a recess having planar lateral head portions extending to and intersecting with a cylindrical surface of the connector body, and a longitudinal neck portion extending from the head portion. The implantable medical device has an extension including a neck portion receivable in the longitudinal neck portion of the recess and a head portion receivable in the lateral head portions of the recess. The outer tube extends over the recess to retain the extension in the recess.

The invention concerns an implantable medical device which is coated with a substance. The invention provides for rapid release of the substance.

An illustrative endoluminal implant having an elongated tubular member. The elongated tubular member having a stent and a retrieval suture interwoven with the stent. The retrieval suture including a first suture loop extending about a circumference of the stent and adjacent to a suture retrieval loop and a second suture loop extending about a circumference of the stent and longitudinally spaced from the first suture loop. The first and second suture loops coupled via one or more interconnecting segments. At least one of the first or second suture loops has an arc length of less than 270° of the circumference of the stent.

Cerebrovascular treatment at an intracranial location beyond the petrous segment of the carotid artery can be challenging due to blood vessel size and tortuosity. First pass cerebrovascular thrombectomy success rate under only fluoroscopic guidance can be low (e.g., 25.1%) but an angioscope can help improve efficacy. A sheath catheter can be advanced toward the cerebrovascular pathology. Its distal balloon can be inflated. An angioscope can be inserted via its working lumen for viewing. The sheath catheter can have a stepped-down lateral profile and can extend the working channel a distance beyond the balloon. A dual concentric lumen structure can include an inner body and an outer body, defining an inflation lumen therebetween, with one or more portions of one or more layers stretched or cut or both, such as to provide bending flexibility. Reflow techniques can be used to help bond layers together.

Described is a method and device for dilating a tubular anatomical structure. The device and method can be useful for extracting a blood clot in an artery of a mammal by concentrically irradiating an inner wall of the occluded artery using an ultraviolet (UV) laser beam delivered by an optical fiber having an external or inverted conical tip. Dilation results from photophysical production and release of nitric oxide from the cells lining the arterial wall when UV laser light is projected as a ring beam onto the inner arterial wall. This “minimal contact persistent dilation system” prepares the artery for safer mechanical extraction by thrombectomy, owing to decrease in friction and dissolution of chemical bonding.

A device for extracting an endovascular stent graft from a vessel including a cylindrical body and an opening formed in the cylindrical body. The cylindrical body has a first open end, a second open end, and a sidewall surrounding a hollow bore of the cylindrical body. The opening is formed in the sidewall between the first open end and the second open end forming a first ring portion at the first open end and a second ring portion at the second open end. Additionally, a diameter of the first open end is greater than a diameter of the second open end.

The acute and chronic devices and methods described herein include a body lumen fluid flow modulator including an upstream flow accelerator and a downstream flow decelerator. The fluid flow modulator preferably includes one or more openings that define a gap/entrainment region that provides a pathway through which additional fluid from a branch lumen(s) is entrained into the fluid stream flowing from the upstream flow accelerator to the downstream flow decelerator. Delivery devices including a sheath and inner assembly also are provided for delivering the flow modulator to the body lumen. The delivery device may maintain the flow modulator in its collapsed, delivery state upon retraction of the sheath for ease of readjustment within the body lumen prior to full deployment of the flow modulator within the body lumen.