A weeping balloon catheter includes a catheter having an elongate tubular body defining a medical device lumen and a liquid delivery lumen. A dilation balloon is disposed at a distal end of the elongate tubular body and is in fluid communication with the liquid delivery lumen. The dilation balloon includes a fluid communication channel through an outer wall of the dilation balloon. A flow restriction member is positioned along the fluid communication channel and has an open position permitting fluid communication along the fluid communication channel and a closed position blocking fluid communication along the fluid communication channel. A drug delivery path of the weeping balloon catheter is defined by the liquid delivery lumen and the dilation balloon.

A scaffold is mounted on a balloon of a balloon catheter. The scaffold has closed cells which deform upon balloon expansion and generate forces that cause struts or other components of the scaffold to deflect outwardly to a diameter that is greater than the inflated diameter balloon. The deflected struts apply forces to fracture plaque of other hardened lesions and also form an annular gap surrounding the balloon to provide for bypass flow of blood or other body fluids. A sheath may be located over the deflected struts to protect adjacent tissue structures from the deflected struts and/or to further define the gap.

Angioplasty or valvuloplasty balloon catheters with a ripcord for cutting, ripping, or tearing a balloon can achieve faster deflation times. Methods using such catheters can improve patient outcomes in percutaneous transluminal valvuloplasty and angioplasty.

A catheter assembly includes a catheter comprising a flexible elongated member including a distal portion that includes a tubular body defining an inner lumen and a plurality of body apertures that extend through a sidewall of the tubular body into the inner lumen, and a plurality of primary electrodes positioned along the tubular body. The catheter assembly includes a wire defining at least one secondary electrode, the wire being configured to be slidably moved through the inner lumen of the tubular body, where the wire and the plurality of primary electrodes are configured to electrically couple to an energy source that delivers an electrical pulse to a fluid in contact with the plurality of primary electrodes and the at least one secondary electrode to cause the fluid to undergo cavitation to generate a pressure pulse wave within the fluid.

A method for producing a balloon from a suitable blank is provided. The blank is introduced into an outer mold heated an first expanded to expand it against the inner wall of the outer mold. Pressure is reduced to relax the blank away from the inner wall. The three-dimensional volume of the mold is changed. Second expanding of the blank expands again against the inner wall of the changed volume of the outer mold. Balloons of the invention consist of a middle cylindrical region and two end regions delimiting the middle cylindrical region. With a pressure application of 6 bar, a ratio of the cross section in the middle region to the cross section in the end region is at least 2, and preferably greater than 3.

A system for performing angioplasty and a method of utilizing same are provided. The system includes a balloon mounted on a catheter shaft and an expandable constraining structure mounted over the balloon. The expandable constraining structure includes a plurality of axial struts crossing a plurality of radially-expandable rings being for constraining said balloon such that isolated balloon regions protrude through openings in said constraining structure when the balloon is inflated.

The present technology is directed generally to devices, systems, and methods for capturing and cutting fibrous and trabeculated structures (such as synechiae) in vessel lumens. In one embodiment, the present technology includes an intraluminal tissue modifying system configured to capture the fibrous structures, put the fibrous structures in tension, and controllably cut through the fibrous structures without applying appreciable additional force to the vessel wall. The system may include an expandable capture device and a cutting device.

A medical device system includes a medical device that is configured to be delivered to a lesion area in a body lumen, a guide wire that is configured to guide the medical device, a port member that is configured to introduce the guide wire and the medical device into a living body, a proximal-end fixing member that is configured to fix the guide wire and the port member and is provided with an operation unit that is configured to cause the guide wire to move in an insertion/pulling-out direction from the fixed state, an anchor device provided with an anchor portion in a distal portion thereof, and an anchor-device guide wire that is configured to guide the anchor device.

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.

The present invention is related to scoring or cutting balloon catheters carrying at least on a portion of their surface at least one drug or drug preparation and at least one lipophilic antioxidant at a ratio of 3-100% by weight of the at least one lipophilic antioxidant in relation to 100% by weight of the drug, wherein a combination of the at least one drug being a limus drug and the at least one lipophilic antioxidant being butylated hydroxytoluene is excluded.