The vascular occlusion balloon catheter has a balloon, a main lumen, and a balloon expanding lumen. The balloon catheter has an air discharge passage. The air discharge passage has a distal end opening located at a position distal from the balloon and a proximal end communicating with an inner portion of the balloon. The distal end opening of the air discharge passage is positioned inside a portion disposed proximally from a distal end of the balloon catheter. The air discharge passage communicates with the main lumen at the distal end opening of the air discharge passage. The area of a cross section of the air discharge passage orthogonal to an axial direction of the balloon catheter is set to 200 μm.sup.2 to 450 μm.sup.2. The length of the air discharge passage is set to 1.0 to 3.0 mm.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a medical device for snaring guidewire during endovascular procedure. The medical device includes a catheter and an elongate member. The catheter is deployed into a lumen of a blood vessel through a first vascular access point of a subject. The elongate member includes a distal tip mounted with a first magnetic element and configured to be insertable within the catheter. The elongate member is deployed in the lumen of the blood vessel by advancing through the catheter. The first magnetic element of the elongate member is configured to exert magnetic force to magnetically couple with a guidewire advancing within the lumen through a second vascular access point. The magnetic coupling of the elongate member and the guidewire facilitates attracting the guidewire into the catheter and draw out from the first vascular access point by withdrawing the elongate member while advancing the guidewire.

A balloon catheter that includes an elongated main body, a balloon connected to the elongated main body, and a base layer on the outer surface of the balloon. The base layer includes a water-soluble low-molecular weight compound. The balloon catheter also includes a plurality of elongate bodies extending radially away from the outer surface of the balloon. The elongate bodies are crystals of a water-insoluble drug. The elongate bodies each possesses an independent longitudinal axis. At least part of at least some of the elongate bodies are located in the interior of the base layer on the outer surface of the balloon.

Methods of using a medical device having catheter with one or more expandable constricting/occluding members for preventing distal embolization during extracranial or intracranial carotid procedures or vertebral artery procedures by augmenting collateral cerebral circulation by coarctation of the aorta to enhance reversal of blood flow in an internal carotid artery, an external carotid artery, and/or a common carotid artery are disclosed. An interventional catheter can also be advanced into a right cerebral artery and a procedure performed on a lesion in the right cerebral artery.

A device, a method of making a device and a method of inserting a device into a tubular path. The device includes a tubular sheath with one or more helical slots formed therein and a control element that fits within the sheath. In one form, the device is an endoluminal device that simultaneously improves flexibility and structural rigidity though variations in one or both of slot width along the length of the slot and slot pitch along the length of the tubular sheath. When the operator pulls at the proximal end of the control element while holding the outer sheath in place, the slots will tend to close in a preferential manner such that more precise control of device length and bending is enabled, while simultaneously providing improvements in structural rigidity during device insertion and navigation through a body lumen or related tubular member where tortuous paths may be encountered along the member path.

Provided is a treatment method and a medical device that can intentionally and locally administer a drug to a lesion area appearing in a narrow blood vessel such as a retinal blood vessel and a spinal blood vessel. The treatment method has an introduction step of introducing a medical elongated body having a drug holder for holding a drug into a living body, an arrangement step of arranging the drug holder at a treatment target inside the living body, and a discharge step of discharging the drug to the treatment target by releasing the drug held by the drug holder.

A method and apparatus provide techniques for stenting ostial legions and other restenosis in vessels through a stenting apparatus that includes both a guidewire and a separate marker wire. In some examples, the marker wire is threaded through a tubular body of the stenting apparatus and in other examples, the marker wire may be threaded externally through the tubular body. In both such examples, the marker wire may be aligned with a radiopaque marker of the apparatus to guide marker wire positioning.

A method of treating a lesion in a body lumen to enlarge a passageway in the lumen including providing a cutting member, connecting a tracking member to the cutting member to form an assembly, inserting the connected cutting member and tracking member through a first lumen of a catheter, withdrawing the catheter from the cutting member and tracking member, inserting the catheter over the tracking member and leaving the cutting member outside the catheter, and expanding a portion of the catheter to move the cutting member into cutting contact with the lesion. A device for treating a lesion in a body lumen including a cutting member having a coupler to connect a tracking member is also provided.

Enhanced dual purpose systems enable dilating of at least a lesion within a blood vessel and providing an anti-proliferative medicament in a non-attached form directly into the lumen of the vessel. Likewise provided is the ability to stop blood flow to prevent wash-out of the medicament during dwell time within the body lumen, and the ability to remove the medicament after the dwell time of the device to prevent unwanted exposure of the same within the body.

Various embodiments provide a device comprising a balloon disposed at least partially along a template, the template including an aperture, wherein the template has a substantially cylindrical portion that resists deformation in a radial direction, wherein the balloon expands radially during inflation, wherein a portion of the balloon at least partially protrudes about the aperture. Other embodiments are directed toward balloons having textured surfaces.