A dilator device including an elongated flexible material sleeve having a hollow interior extending along a distal portion and a proximal portion thereof. An expandable or inflatable bladder is connected to the distal portion and disposable radially outward from an exterior of the sleeve when in an expanded and/or inflated orientation. The elongated sleeve comprising a tip having a predetermined configuration that facilitates positioning the elongated sleeve within an intended body part. A fluid input is structured for removable connection to a fluid source and is disposed on the sleeve, in fluid communication with the bladder. An access opening is formed on the proximal portion and is cooperatively dimensioned with the hollow interior to removably receive any one of a plurality of different types of positioning instruments within the sleeve.

An instrument positioning mechanism includes a mounting position (125) on a medical device having a channel configured to permit an instrument (104) to pass therethrough. An instrument support (146) is configured to support a length of the instrument. A pivotal connection (150) is configured to rotatably adjust an angle between the support and the mounting position.

A transseptal catheter delivery system includes an elongate first tubular member and an elongate second tubular member receivable within the first tubular member. The first tubular member includes an adjustable portion adjacent a distal end. The second tubular member is adapted to receive an instrument to be placed in the left ventricle, and includes a curved portion adjacent its distal end in a relaxed state. The adjustable portion is deflectable toward the atrial septum to guide a puncturing tool and/or guide insertion of the second tubular member through a septal puncture into the left atrium. Within the left atrium, the curved portion is oriented toward the left ventricle to guide insertion of a guide wire, and subsequently the second tubular member, into the left ventricle. Methods of transvenously accessing a left ventricle are also provided.

An operating unit constituting a stent delivery system is provided with a first rotary roller having a first gear and a second rotary roller having a second gear. The first gear is meshed with a first tooth portion of a rack member and the second gear is meshed with a second tooth portion of the rack member. The first gear is formed to have a large diameter relative to the second gear and at the time of releasing a stent, after positioning a distal end of an outer tube body close to the stent through the rack member with the rotation of the first rotary roller of the operating unit, it is possible to move the outer tube body toward a proximal side at a lower speed than that in the previous state with the rotation of the second rotary roller.

A cannula device for draining sub-retinal fluid externally to the eye includes a shaft, an outer sleeve, and an inner sleeve. The outer sleeve and the inner sleeve have a curve therein to access the back of the eye externally. The outer sleeve is extendable relative to the inner sleeve and the shaft, and the outer sleeve includes a penetrative tip to penetrate the sclera and provide access to the sub-retinal fluid to the inner sleeve.

For treatment of a patient who has a lesion in each of left lower limb artery and right lower limb artery, lesions at both sides can be rather easily and completely treated. A catheter is introduced from an artery of an arm of the patient, and an atherectomy catheter is used for a lesion at one side and continuously used for a lesion at the other side without being extracted to the outside of a human body, and thus damage of an excision portion of the atherectomy catheter and an unexpected situation such as no passage through twisted blood vessels are avoided so that a burden on the patient can be reduced, the treatment can be completed within a short time, and cost reduction can be achieved by reducing the number of catheter to be used.

A urethral stricture treatment apparatus and treatment method are disclosed, which can easily inhibit the position of a medical material from deviating from a treatment site and can make the medical material selectively indwell different treatment sites. The urethral stricture treatment apparatus can have a dilation portion, which dilates in a state of holding a medical material providing an epithelial function so as to bring the medical material into contact with an inner wall of urethra, and a restriction portion which is provided in a position closer to a distal side than the dilation portion in an insertion direction such that a distance between the restriction portion and the dilation portion can be relative changed, and comes into contact with external urethral sphincter in a living body so as to restrict the movement of the medical material toward the distal side.

A steerable catheter includes a tubular sheath having a longitudinally-extending lumen formed within a wall thereof and a steering mechanism disposed within the longitudinally-extending lumen. The steering mechanism includes a pull tube and a pull wire. At least a segment of the pull wire is coaxially disposed within the pull tube. The pull tube has a distal end attached at a first anchor point to the tubular sheath, and the pull wire has a distal end attached at a second anchor point to the tubular sheath. The second anchor point is distal of the first anchor point. The pull tube and the pull wire are separately tensioned to bend respective regions of the tubular sheath.

A catheter (700) includes a tubular member (702) having a lumen and an outer surface, a sleeve (704) configured to be positioned in the lumen in a retracted configuration and to evert over at least a portion of the outer surface in an everted configuration, and a filament (700) configured to retract the sleeve (702) into the retracted configuration. The catheter includes an aperture (774) proximal of a distal end, where the filament (770) extends through the aperture (774) from the lumen. A pull member (772) may be on a distal end of the filament (770). The filament (770) may be looped, coiled, and/or bunched in the catheter (700) when the sleeve (704) is in the retracted configuration. A shuttle (718) may be attached to a distal end of the sleeve (704), where the shuttle (718) includes a tubular member configured to maintain patency of the sleeve (704), and the filament (770) engages the shuttle (718) to retract the sleeve (704) into the lumen.

Steerable catheters may include a plurality of generally arcuate-shaped struts connected at proximal and distal ends of a handle. The handle is connected to a tubular portion at a distal end of the handle. The tubular portion includes a resilient component positioned near a distal tip of the tubular portion. The catheter includes a pull wire fixed to a point at or near the distal tip of the tubular portion. Upon manual compression of the handle, the struts are squeezed together, lengthening the handle, and extending the pull wire proximally. The proximal extension of the pull wire can cause the distal tip of the catheter to deflect. The catheter can be rotated greater than 360° around a longitudinal axis. The compressible handle can allow a user of the catheter tactile feedback and control over navigation of the catheter.