A conductive coating may be adhered to a structure comprising a hydrophobic and/or adhesion-resistant surface. The conductive coating may have a polymer backbone with conductive particles suspended in the backbone. In some embodiments, the conductive coating may be applied directly to the surface. In other embodiments, the conductive coating may be indirectly applied by first applying a primer adhesive to the outer surface, and then applying the conductive coating over the primer adhesive. An example structure may be a catheter of an endoscopic medical device, such as a bipolar sphincterotome, where the conductive coating functions as a return electrode.

Articulated instruments that include tools for disrupting and/or distracting tissue, and methods of using the same.

The present application is directed to a medical instrument with a hollow shaft, a handle arranged at the proximal end of the shaft and a tool tip with a tool arranged at the distal end of the shaft, wherein the tool can be actuated via an actuating element mounted in the shaft, the element being in an operative connection with the handle and the tool tip being pivotable relative to the shaft via a joint mechanism, the joint mechanism having pivoting members, wherein inside the hollow shaft at least one guide device is arranged for the steering wires connecting the pivoting members to the drive. In order that the steering wires can be installed easily and without crossing, the at least one guide device is arranged coaxially on the actuating element, and the at least one a guide device is mounted on the actuating element so that it cannot rotate.

A medical system includes a medical instrument, at least one actuator, and a controller. The medical instrument defines a central axis and includes a steerable tip. The controller is configured to command the at least one actuator to cause active steering control of the medical instrument according to an insertion control mode after movement of the medical instrument is detected and exceeds a first threshold value in an insertion direction and to deactivate the at least one actuator to cause the steerable tip of the medical instrument to move freely, without the active steering control, in reaction to forces exerted against the medical instrument by a wall of the anatomic passageway after axial movement of the medical instrument is detected by the medical system and exceeds a second threshold value in a retraction direction. At least one of the first or second threshold values comprises a velocity threshold value.

Transducer-based systems and methods may be configured to display a graphical representation of a transducer-based device, the graphical representation including graphical elements corresponding to transducers of the transducer-based device, and also including between graphical elements respectively associated with a set of the transducers and respectively associated with a region of space between the transducers of the transducer-based device. Selection of graphical elements and/or between graphical elements can cause activation of the set of transducers associated with the selected elements. Transducer activation characteristics, such as initiation time, activation duration, activation sequence, and energy delivery characteristics, can vary based on numerous factors. Visual characteristics of graphical elements and between graphical elements can change based on an activation-status of the corresponding transducers. Activation requests for a set of transducers can be denied if it is determined that a transducer in the set of transducers is unacceptable for activation.

A method of dispensing surgical fasteners includes providing an applicator instrument having a housing with a cartridge opening, an elongated shaft extending from the housing, a firing system disposed within the housing for dispensing surgical fasteners, and an actuator for activating the firing system. The method includes forming a surgical opening in tissue, inserting a distal end of the elongated shaft into the surgical opening, inserting a cartridge containing a plurality of first surgical fasteners into the cartridge opening, and engaging the actuator for dispensing one of the first surgical fasteners from the distal end of the elongated shaft. While maintaining the distal end of the elongated shaft inside the surgical opening, the cartridge is removed from the cartridge opening, a second cartridge containing a plurality of second surgical fasteners is inserted into the cartridge opening, and the actuator is engaged for dispensing one of the second surgical fasteners from the distal end of the elongated shaft.

Devices, systems, and methods are provided for control over automated movement of catheters and other elongate bodies. Fluid and/or pull-wire drive systems can be used to provide robotically coordinated lateral bending motions and a processor of the system can generate synchronized actuator drive signals to move the tool along an at least partially laterally constrained path, with the path optionally extending along the axis of a virtual model of the catheter that has been driven in silico into alignment with a target tissue adjacent an open workspace such as an open chamber of the heart.

A method of dispensing surgical fasteners includes providing an applicator instrument having a housing with a cartridge opening, an elongated shaft extending from the housing, a firing system disposed within the housing for dispensing surgical fasteners, and an actuator for activating the firing system. The method includes forming a surgical opening in tissue, inserting a distal end of the elongated shaft into the surgical opening, inserting a cartridge containing a plurality of first surgical fasteners into the cartridge opening, and engaging the actuator for dispensing one of the first surgical fasteners from the distal end of the elongated shaft. While maintaining the distal end of the elongated shaft inside the surgical opening, the cartridge is removed from the cartridge opening, a second cartridge containing a plurality of second surgical fasteners is inserted into the cartridge opening, and the actuator is engaged for dispensing one of the second surgical fasteners from the distal end of the elongated shaft.

Disclosed is a surgical instrument with a handle and elongate shaft assembly extending distally from the handle. The elongate shaft assembly has a longitudinal axis and is able to articulate between a fully flexed configuration and a lesser flexed configuration. The elongated shaft assembly includes a first tubular member having a first flexible portion with a first preferential bending direction. The elongated shaft assembly also includes a second member including a second flexible portion axially fixed to the first tubular member at a position distal from the first flexible portion. The first flexible portion is defined by a plurality of cutouts, each cutout defining a cutout longitudinal axis transverse the shaft longitudinal axis and wherein the plurality of radial cutouts have an asymmetrical shape about the cutout longitudinal axis.

This document relates to devices and methods for the treatment of heart conditions. For example, this document provides devices and methods for treating heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, including diastolic heart failure, by performing a pericardial modification procedure. The methods for treating diastolic heart failure of a patient include: creating an opening in a parietal layer, and only in the parietal layer, of a pericardial tissue of the patient. The creation of this opening reduces pressure exerted by the pericardial tissue on a heart of the patient.