A medical device for reducing the volume of a left atrial appendage (LAA) may include an elongate shaft having a distal portion, and a volume-reducing means expandable from a collapsed to an expanded state, the volume-reducing means being releasably attached to the distal portion. The volume-reducing means may include an actuatable frame and an impermeable covering disposed over the frame. The volume-reducing means may be sized to fit within the LAA in the expanded state while maintaining an open fluid flow path from a distal region through the ostium of the LAA. A medical device may include a second volume-reducing means to be placed within and substantially occlude a distalmost region of the LAA. A method may include inserting a volume-reducing means into the LAA, expanding the volume-reducing means, and positioning the volume-reducing means such that an open fluid flow path is maintained through an entire cycle of the heart.

The present invention improves significantly the success rate of lithotripsy and reduces the risk of tissue damage, by injecting a temporary plug in front, and optionally behind a concretion (for extracorporeal lithotripsy) or behind a concretion (for intracorporeal lithotripsy). One aspect of the present invention relates to injecting an inverse thermosensitive polymer solution into a lumen, thereby preventing the migration of a concretion, or its fragments, upon extracorporeal or intracorporeal lithotripsy.

An occlusion device may comprise a first tube having a first balloon positioned at a distal end, and a second tube having a second balloon positioned at a distal end. The first balloon may be sized and configured to occlude a vascular lumen upstream of a vascular puncture, and the second balloon may be sized and configured to simultaneously occlude the vascular lumen downstream of the vascular puncture. A method of occluding a vascular puncture may comprise positioning a distal end of an occlusion device comprising a first balloon and a second balloon through the vascular puncture and into a vascular lumen. The first balloon may be positioned downstream of the vascular puncture, and the second balloon may be positioning upstream of the vascular puncture.

An apparatus for preventing stroke by occluding blood flow through a right carotid artery and a left carotid artery of a patient is provided. The apparatus has a first occluding catheter that carries a first occluding balloon that has an inflated configuration that occludes either the right carotid artery or the left carotid artery. The apparatus also includes a second occluding catheter that carries a second occluding balloon that has an inflated configuration that occludes the other one of the right carotid artery or the left carotid artery that is not occluded by the first occluding balloon. An insertion device may also be present to allow for insertion of the first and second occluding catheters.

A vascular plug comprises a superstructure expandable from a collapsed percutaneous insertion configuration to an expanded deployment or use configuration. The superstructure is comprised of both primary and secondary three-dimensional shapes allowing for the occlusion of a wide range of vessel sizes from small to large through a disproportionately small delivery catheter. The plug includes a shape memory element for the generation of radial force and the creation of the larger secondary three-dimensional twisting or helical superstructure as is needed for target vessel occlusion.

An aortic occlusion device includes a catheter and a balloon mounted along the catheter, wherein the balloon is a narrow profile balloon. The narrow profile balloon comprises an anchored end fixed to the catheter, a movable end distal to the fixed end, a wall extending between the anchored end and the movable end, an inflatable tube located proximate along the wall and circumscribing the wall, and at least one tension wire attached to the movable end and extending through the catheter such that the at least one tension wire is accessible to move the movable end of the balloon towards the anchored end when the catheter is positioned in the aorta.

An occluding catheter for preventing stroke by occluding blood flow through right and left carotid arteries is provided. The occluding catheter includes a shaft that has a proximal end and a distal end, and a proximal occluding balloon carried by the shaft. The proximal occluding balloon is inflated to occlude blood flow through one of the right carotid artery and the left carotid artery. A distal occluding balloon is carried by the shaft and is inflated to occlude blood flow through one of the right carotid artery and the left carotid artery that is not occluded by the proximal occluding balloon. The shaft has a segment that is located between the proximal occluding balloon and the distal occluding balloon. Also provided is an alternative arrangement with a single occluding balloon, and an associated method of diverting emboli from cerebral circulation.

Improved methods and devices for performing an endoscopic surgery are provided. Systems are taught for operatively treating gastrointestinal disorders endoscopically in a stable, yet dynamic operative environment, and in a minimally-invasive manner. Such systems include, for example, an endoscopic surgical suite. The surgical suite can have a reversibly-expandable retractor that expands to provide a stable, operative environment within a subject. The expansion can be asymmetric around a stabilizer subsystem to maximize space for a tool and an endoscope to each be maneuvered independently to visualize a target tissue and treat the target tissue from outside the patient in a minimally invasive manner.

Balloon based therapy devices for treatment of diseased vessels with particular applicability to veins are described. The devices are adapted for active aspiration of a closure zone, in particular aspects to an isolated closure zone, prior to delivery of a closure agent. The devices may be used for treatment of diseased veins in the lower limbs and pelvis. The devices may also include mechanical abrasion elements adapted to engage with a vessel wall, such as along a treatment zone.

Interventional procedures on the carotid arteries are performed through a transcervical access while retrograde blood flow is established from the internal carotid artery to a venous or external location. A system for use in accessing and treating a carotid artery includes an arterial access device, a shunt fluidly connected to the arterial access device, and a flow control assembly coupled to the shunt and adapted to regulate blood flow through the shunt between at least a first blood flow state and at least a second blood flow state. The flow control assembly includes one or more components that interact with the blood flow through the shunt.