Methods for planning endovascular procedures intended to access extravascular spaces are disclosed herein for measuring anatomical distances and assessing such distance relative to anatomical screening criteria specified for a procedure to improve patient safety and procedural success, for example, when planning a procedure for navigating a delivery catheter through a blood vessel wall to a location within the intracranial subarachnoid space.

A self-clearing actuator configured to be positioned in a pore providing fluid communication into a central lumen of a ventricular catheter body is described. The actuator extends into a central bore via a cantilever beam having a first end emanating at the central bore and a second end terminating at the actuator, wherein the actuator is configured to reciprocate within the central bore between a first position extending downward at an angle into the central bore and a second position substantially at or above the external surface of the catheter. The cantilever beam is stressed, e.g. via a composite compress layer, such that it is preloaded to nominally curve downward to extend the actuator into the second position. The actuator is preferably a magnet responsive to magnetic field such that the magnetic field drives the actuator toward the first position.

Obesity treatment apparatus and methods are described herein involving gastric recycling of food are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the gastric recycling apparatus keeps returning chyme to the stomach increasing satiety signals and delaying hunger signals associated with an empty stomach. It may also may slow the emptying of the stomach as the caloric load in the stomach delays emptying and/or limit absorption of food within the small intestine by delivering at least a portion of food passing through the small intestine back into the stomach.

The present disclosure relates generally to controlling a volume of fluid within a portion of a patient's body. For example, the present disclosure can relate to the addition or removal of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) from a portion of the patient's brain. The amount of fluid can be controlled by a system that includes a dual chamber probe and a volume control. One channel can include a drain element to drain the fluid from the portion of a patient's body. The other channel can include a volume changing element to facilitate the drainage of the fluid by changing a volume of the portion of the patient's body. The volume changing element can be coupled to a volume control, which can control the change of the volume of the portion of the patient's body (e.g., based on passive oscillation or active oscillation).

A magnetic article with a corrosion resistant barrier formed from a poly (tetrafluoro-p-xylene) conformal coating or from a parylene conformal coating having a melting point of at least about 430 C. and a moisture vapor transmission less than about 0.5 g-mm/m.sup.2/day at 90% RH and 37 C., the conformal coating being covered with a polysulfone thermoplastic overlayer.

An implantable valve device includes a valve unit having a flow limiter in operative association with a dial for controlling a flow of material through a lumen in communication with the valve unit. The dial includes a dial indicator viewable through cross-sectional imaging for determining and/or otherwise verifying a pressure setting of the valve unit. The valve unit can include a housing that encapsulates the dial therein and provides one or more reference indicators that enable a practitioner to determine an orientation of the valve unit and further clarify the position of the dial indicator. The valve unit can be interrogated through conventional non-invasive cross-sectional imaging methods such as ultrasound.

A modular cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drain system for treating hydrocephalus without penetration of the gray matter of the brain is disclosed. Modular components of the CSF drain system may include a subarachnoid space (SAS) inlet drain implant, a SAS implant plug, a connector implant, a dural venous sinus (DVS) implant plug, and a DVS outlet drain implant. When implanted, the modular components may be fluidly coupled such that cerebrospinal fluid may flow from a subjects subarachnoid space through the modular components and into the subjects cerebral venous sinuses. A kit including a guide device and the CSF drain system, as well as a method for installing the CSF drain system are also disclosed.

An apparatus for measuring pressure of fluid in a shunt includes a distensible member arranged adjacent to a graduated scale. The shunt includes a shunt valve and the apparatus is attachable to, or incorporated into the shunt at a location either at the shunt valve or upstream of the shunt valve. Both the distensible member and the scale include radiopaque markers. The fluid in the shunt acts directly on the distensible member and the distensible member is distensible in the direction of the scale.

An implantable medical device for delivering therapeutic fluid to, and withdrawing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from, a CSF-containing space, includes a first inlet configured to be accessed by a needle of an aspiration device; a first outlet; a first fluid pathway extending from the first inlet to the first outlet; a second inlet; a second outlet; and a second fluid pathway extending from the second inlet to the second outlet. The first fluid pathway is free of a filter configured to prevent passage of a microbe.

Systems, catheters, and methods for accessing and treating along the central nervous system are disclosed including sampling systems. An example sampling system may include a filter cassette designed to filter cerebrospinal fluid. The filter cassette may have an inlet region configured to be coupled to a catheter and configured to receive cerebrospinal fluid, one or more filters, and an outlet region configured to be coupled to an outlet of the catheter and to direct filtered cerebrospinal fluid to the catheter. A sampling port may be in fluid communication with the filter cassette. The sampling port may have a first end region configured to receive cerebrospinal fluid, a stopcock, a syringe port, and a second end region. The stopcock may be configured to shift between a first position where cerebrospinal fluid is directed from the first end region to the second end region and a second position where cerebrospinal fluid is directed from the first end region to the syringe port.