The described invention provides endovascular devices that share the following general features: a working segment, a support segment, a working lumen, a support lumen, a side hole, and an angled extension. A described endovascular device includes an outer support catheter and an inner catheter with a side hole optionally containing an angled extension disposed at least partially within the lumen defined by the outer support catheter. The inner catheter can be connected to sets of grips on the outer catheter and the inner catheter, which are used by the operator to rotate one catheter relative to the other so as to position the side hole or the angled extension of the inner catheter in the targeted vessel. A radiopaque marker or intravascular ultrasound can be used to identify the position of the distal side hole in vivo. In some devices, the distal segment beyond the side hole (the support segment) for each of the described devices is effective to provide stability to each endovascular device, to provide strength to the endovascular device, to provide support for the endovascular device, to facilitate placement of the endovascular device, to anchor the endovascular device within a blood vessel, to reduce kickback of the endovascular device, or a combination thereof. The endovascular devices described can include additional support elements, for example, a balloon, a stent, a wire, or a combination thereof. The described selectively inflatable balloon is of two dimensions, a diameter and a length, sized to fit within the diameter of a vessel, for positioning the endovascular device. It may be disposed in a circumferential array of selectively inflatable balloons, as a single distal inflatable balloon or both. The circumferential array of selectively inflatable balloons is effective to position the endovascular device within a target blood vessel. The single distal balloon is effective to anchor the endovascular device within a target blood vessel. Each inflatable balloon can be selectively filled with a fluid, e.g., sterile water and saline.

Lumen-apposing shunt devices for transporting body fluid from a first compartment (e.g., peritoneal cavity) to a second compartment (e.g., bladder) comprise a longitudinal tube communicating between the two compartments and retention systems that separate apart and maintain each end of the tube within the respective compartment. The retention systems include double self-expandable wheels and double inflatable balloons enveloping the tube transversely, with one wheel or balloon in the first compartment and the other wheel or balloon in the second compartment. The self-expanded wheels or inflated balloons support and retain the shunt device between the compartments as fluid (e.g., ascites) from the first compartment flows into the second compartment in response to pressure gradients between the compartments. The shunt device contains a one-way valve mechanism to provide unidirectional flow of fluid from the first to the second compartment and to prevent reflux from the second to the first compartment.

A skull-mounted drug and pressure sensor (SOS), a smart pump (ISP) electrically coupled to the SOS and a drug delivery and communications catheter communicating the SOS with the ISP are combined for a first embodiment. A skull-mounted (SOS), a metronomic biofeedback pump (MBP) electrically coupled to the SOS and a drug delivery and communications catheter having a sending and receiving optical fiber communicating the SOS with the MBP are combined for a second embodiment. A third embodiment combines a (SOS), an implantable power and communication unit (PCU) electrically coupled to the SOS, and a drug delivery and communications catheter for communicating the SOS with the PCU and for communicating the exterior source of the drug to the SOS. A fourth embodiment combines a ventricular catheter with a CSF accessible chamber and drug delivery port; and an implantable stand-alone skull-mounted drug and pressure sensor (SPS).

The invention relates to a device for detecting a malfunctioning of a valve/catheters assembly for shunting a cerebrospinal fluid or the like, characterized in that it comprises: a chamber (6) which is placed inside the said housing; a laminar canal (4), a sensor (7) for measuring a pressure in the said chamber; a flexible membrane (5) separating the sensor from the chamber (6); control and communications electronics (8,9) able to exchange with an external reader in order to transmit a measurement by the said sensor, the sensor (7) being attached to the flexible membrane (5) with which it is in contact.

A cerebral catheter device for draining fluid from the brain of a patient is described. The device may be used as part of a ventricular shunt system. The device includes an elongate tube for insertion into the brain of a patient to a vicinity of a desired target. A head is attached to the elongate tube that has a passageway in fluid communication with a lumen of the elongate tube. Formations are provided on the external surface of the head for securing the head in a hole formed in the skull of a patient. The head further includes a first fluid connector portion that is attachable to an associated drainage catheter device. This allows fluid communication to be established between the lumen of the elongate tube and a drainage catheter device via the passageway of the head.

A portable body fluid collection device that includes an apparatus for controlling the collection of body fluids and at least one strap associated with the apparatus for controlling the collection of body fluids. The strap can be worn by a patient to support the weight of the automated body fluid drain control apparatus. The apparatus for controlling the collection of body fluids includes a drainage tube and a fluid collection chamber in fluid communication with the drainage tube. The fluid collection chamber includes a first valve, and the fluid collection chamber is configured such that when a predetermined amount of fluid is collected in the collection chamber before a first predetermined period of time elapses, the collection chamber ceases collecting fluid.

An implantable drainage device is provided. The device is adapted to move body fluid from one part of the body of a patient to another part of the body.

The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for draining. The apparatus includes a body, the body having a first compartment adjacent to a second compartment, the first compartment having an inlet port fluidly connected to an outlet port, the inlet port defining a needle seat within the first compartment, a first rod hole for operation with a second rod hole in the second compartment, and a plurality of venting holes, the second compartment having a plurality of spaced notches along. The apparatus further includes a setting rod, the setting rod having a shaft and a sealing head, the shaft sized to be slideably maintained in the first rod hole and the second rod hole, the sealing head slideably attached to an end of the shaft and sized to obstruct fluid flow from the inlet port at the needle seat.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurological disorder marked by progressive memory and cognitive impairments that eventually result in death. Currently, there are no effective therapies or cures that slow or halt the relentless progression of Alzheimer's disease. The invention teaches that the underlying mechanism responsible for the initiation of Alzheimer's disease is due to the insufficient flow of cerebrospinal fluid through apertures in the cribriform plate. The cribriform plate is a flat bony structure at the top of the nasal cavity directly below the olfactory bulbs. Naturally occurring apertures in the cribriform plate provide conduits for cranial nerve 1 fibers passing from the olfactory epithelium below, into the olfactory bulb above. Cerebrospinal fluid in the extracellular compartment above seeps through these apertures and into the nasal submucosa below, where it is removed by lymphatic vessels. This outflow allows cerebrospinal fluid to flow into the olfactory bulbs from continguous brain structures that include the basal forebrain and medial temporal lobe. Cerebrospinal fluid flow along this route removes metabolites and debris from those regions of the brain, including factors that accumulate in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Obstructions of cribriform plate apertures reduce or stop this outflow of cerebrospinal fluid, resulting in the accumulation of plaques and tangles and other Alzheimer's disease related pathologies. The invention teaches that patients with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia can be treated by inserting shunts that facilitate the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid from an area above the cribriform plate to other parts of the body including but not limited to other regions of the brain, the nasal submucosa, the peritoneal cavity, and the pleural cavity. It provides a method of treating any patient in need thereof for neurological or psychiatric disease. The invention teaches how shunts can be configured and implanted with two independent claims and five dependent claims.