Tissue expansion system includes a pump, a controller, and inflatable bladder, and a pressure sensor. The pump is adapted for substantially continuous operation in response to a pressure within a subcutaneously implanted inflatable bladder. The pump is thus able to deliver inflation medium to the bladder when the pressure within the bladder is below a predetermined lower threshold while stopping delivery of the fluid when the pressure rises above a higher threshold or reaches a predetermined maximum volume.

An airway stabilization system attachable to any airway device to maintain an airway in a patient and which prevents clinically significant movement of the airway device with respect to the patient's vocal cords in response to the application of significant forces in any direction to the device, be they longitudinal, torsional/rotational or bending. The system includes an improved airway device and an improved securing device having interactive components that cooperate integrally with and engage one another to provide unparalleled strength and stability against movement. The securing device includes a unique stabilizer configured to releaseably engage a retention structure on the airway device with a simple twist. A connector device connects the system to a source of ventilatory air without constricting the airway device.

A system and method for controlling the inflation, ablation, and deflation of a balloon catheter. The system includes a balloon catheter, a console, a pressurized gas or liquid inflation source, and an umbilical system to deliver pressurized coolant to the balloon catheter. The system may include controller that monitors the amount of pressure and volume within the balloon catheter. During inflation, the pressure and/or volume of fluid within the balloon is maintained at a target amount in order to provide sufficient mechanized pressure against the desired target region. The system limits the inflation pressure such that a safe quantity of gas would be released should a leak occur. If the amount falls below a certain threshold level, gas or fluid egress is presumed and the inflation process is halted.

Disclosed herein are aspects of a tracheal breathing tube that provides for accurate and reliable control of cannula cuff pressure. Such a tracheal breathing tube include a pressure controller through which a fluid is supplied to a cannula cuff of a tracheal breathing tube and which enables reliable indication of a level of pressure of fluid within the cannula cuff. The pressure controller serves to achieve a proper interface between the cannula cuff and a patient's trachea, thereby addressing important clinical considerations such as anesthesiologist control. Moreover, the pressure controller serves to ensure that proper force is being applied on the patient's tracheal walls by the cannula cuff to thereby limit the potential for post-surgical complications resulting from, for example, inadequate blood supply to an organ or part of the body. swelling of the patient's tracheal walls that can lead to difficulty in breathing, and the like.

A balloon catheter (60) includes an elongated catheter member (63) and an inflatable balloon (65) located adjacent a distal end (5) of the catheter member (63). Band type measuring electrodes (7) located on the catheter member (63) within the balloon (65) include a pair of outer stimulating electrodes (8) and sensing electrodes (9) for measuring the cross-sectional area and volume of the balloon (65) by impedance planimetry measuring. A light emitting diode (20) is located on each measuring electrode (7) for emitting light so that the location of the balloon catheter, and in particular, the measuring electrodes (7) can be detected in a vessel (91) with a translucent wall within the body of a human subject. By capturing an image of the vessel and the light from the light emitting diodes (20) emanating through a translucent wall of the vessel by an imaging device (92) located within the human body externally of the vessel (91), the location of the balloon catheter and the electrodes (7) within the vessel can be determined.

A medical instrument includes a first elongated member including: a fluid lumen through which a fluid is flowable, an aperture opening located in a distal end surface of the first elongated member; a second elongated member including: an insertion lumen in which the first elongated member is insertable, and a discharge section through which the fluid can be discharged; and a movement section configured to form a seal between the first elongated member and the second elongated member in a state where the first elongated member is disposed in the insertion lumen of the second elongated member, the movement section being configured to allow the first elongated member and the second elongated member to move relative to each other such that the discharge section of the second elongated member is positionable on a distal side of the aperture of the first elongated member.

The present invention relates to a valve system for an inflatable portion of an indwelling medical device and more particularly to a valve system for fluid regulation of a catheter comprising a fluid inflatable portion that undergoes pressure changes within the body during use.

The instant invention provides for a pivoting ring that can be used as a seal for an inflatable member. The pivoting ring seal offers a mechanical action which acts to tighten with increasing inflation and/or expansion of an inflatable member. As the inflatable member increases in pressure and/or size, one side of the ring is lifted and pivots around a fulcrum in the middle of the ring seal causing the opposite side of the ring seal to decrease in diameter. The pivot ring causes the opposite part of the seal to tighten about an inner member allowing for a higher-pressure seal. In addition to a higher pressure seal, the working length of the inflatable member can be adjusted by moving the ring along the length of the inflatable member.

A medical device system may include a catheter sheath and a catheter shaft sized for delivery through a lumen of the catheter sheath. The catheter shaft may be coupled to an end effector at or adjacent a distal end of the catheter shaft. The catheter shaft may include a lumen and a control element. The control element may be coupled to the end effector and may reside within the lumen of the catheter shaft. Physical access may be provided to the control element, to allow the control element to be severed to facilitate removal of the end effector from a bodily cavity. The control element may include a lumen and a control cable therein. A liquid entry port may be provided in the lumen of the control element toward a distal end of the control element to allow expedited provision of fluid to a distal portion of the control element.

A clot capture catheter comprises an elongate tubular shaft having a proximal end, a distal end and an inflatable expansile member at the distal end. The expansile member is inflatable from a collapsed delivery configuration to an expanded configuration. In the expanded configuration, the expansile member extends to define a funnel shape having an enlarged distal clot entry mouth at the distal-most end of the catheter. In the expanded configuration, the expansile member may extend distally beyond the distalmost tip of the shaft. The expansile member may be integral with the distal tip of the catheter shaft.