Systems and methods can remove material of interest, including blood clots, from a body region, including but not limited to the circulatory system for the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), cerebrovascular embolism, and other vascular occlusions.

A neurovascular catheter having an atraumatic navigational tip is disclosed. The catheter includes an elongate flexible tubular body, a distal zone of the tubular body comprising: a tubular inner liner; a helical coil surrounding the inner liner and having a distal end, a tubular jacket surrounding the helical coil, and extending distally beyond the helical coil distal end to terminate in a catheter distal face, and a tubular radiopaque marker embedded in the tubular jacket. The catheter distal face comprises a first section that resides on a first plane which crosses a longitudinal axis of the tubular body at a first angle within the range of from about 35 degrees to about 55 degrees, and a second section that resides on a second plane which crosses the longitudinal axis of the tubular body at a second angle within the range from about 55 degrees to about 90 degrees.

To provide a basket-type treatment instrument for an endoscope such that wires constituting a basket are not liable to be damaged. A basket-type treatment instrument 1 for an endoscope having a basket part 40 formed such that a plurality of basket wires 41, 42 elastically expand or contract radially, wherein folded-back parts 41a, 42a formed by folding back substantially center portions of the basket wires 41, 42 are hooked to a substantially cylindrical first rib 6b fixed in a perpendicular direction to the cylinder axis of a distal tip 6, whereby the distal tip 6 retains the distal sides of the basket wires 41, 42 together.

A clot removal device for removing a clot from a body vessel is presented. The device can facilitate clot retrieval by expanding in such a way as to engage the clot over a significant surface area. The clot can have at least one firm portion and at least one soft portion. At least one firm portion of the clot can be pinched by a proximal portion of the device while at least one soft portion of the clot can be retained by the distal portion of the device upon extraction. However, dislodgement and removal of the clot can cause softer portions the clot to shear or break, resulting in small floating fragments of clot in the vessel no longer attached to the main clot. This device can also capture and retain sheared or expanded distal portions of the clot upon removal of the clot from a vessel.

Manufacturing an expandable body of a clot retrieval device having a first coating of radiopaque material defining a plurality of micro-columns and a second coating, the method including applying the first coating to strut elements, removing at least a portion of the first coating from at least one area of the strut elements, and cutting away regions of both the first coating and the strut elements to form an interconnected pattern of coated and uncoated regions.

The present invention includes an embolic protection device comprising a catheter having a self-expanding embolic filter that is disposed around the catheter proximal to a distal portion, wherein the embolic filter comprises a frame, and the frame defines an opening of the embolic filter that faces the distal end of the catheter; a deployment mechanism that is disposed around at least a portion of the catheter, wherein the deployment mechanism is longitudinally movable with respect to the catheter, the deployment mechanism is configured to contain the embolic filter in a collapsed configuration, and the embolic filter is configured to self-expand upon the longitudinal retraction of the deployment mechanism; and a wire coupled to the frame for expanding the size or diameter of the embolic filter opening.

The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for a distal protection system. The system may include a delivery catheter, an embolic protection apparatus, and a retrieval catheter. An improved embolic protection apparatus with a smaller diameter wire in the area of the filter is also disclosed. Embolic protection apparatuses that can be used in a wide diameter range of lumens is disclosed.

A device including a clot engaging device having a collapsed delivery configuration and an expanded deployment configuration. The device can include a plurality of struts defining a plurality of cells; a seam extending along at least a portion of a length of a distal end of the clot engaging device, wherein the seam comprises a pattern configured for gripping a clot and extends between cells of the plurality of cells; and a distal scaffolding region being distally tapered, wherein the distal scaffolding region comprises cells smaller than cells of a remainder of the clot engaging device.

Snare device with anti-skewing. In one embodiment, the snare device includes a core-wire. The core-wire is made of a superelastic material and includes a proximal portion of greater cross-sectional area and a distal portion of lesser cross-sectional area. The distal portion includes a looped shape in a relaxed state. A flexible coil is mounted around the core-wire and is straight in a compressed state. The distal ends of the core-wire and the coil are coupled together. The proximal end of the core-wire is coupled to a handle of an actuator, and the proximal end of the coil is coupled to a slide of an actuator, the slide being slidably mounted on the handle. The tensile strength of the coil multiplied by the cross-sectional area of the coil is greater than the upper plateau stress of the core-wire distal portion multiplied by the cross-sectional area of the core-wire distal portion.

A system for retrieving material or objects from a biological vessel is provided. the system includes an elongated braid structure configured for transitioning between collapsed and expanded states, the elongated braid structure surrounding a lumen having a distal opening when in the expanded state. The system further includes a closure wire positioned along a length of the elongated braid structure, the closure wire being actuatable to pull inward a distal portion of the elongated braid structure and thereby at least partially close the distal opening.