The designs and methods disclosed herein are for a clot retrieval catheter that can have a proximal elongate body with a large bore lumen and a distal tip expandable to a diameter larger than the outer sheath through which it is delivered. The distal tip can have a flexible metallic support frame to provide radial scaffolding and the ability for further flexible expansion when ingesting a clot. The support frame can be designed so that the expanding movement is focused in a portion of the circumference though a plurality of deformable cells that can collapse to be almost flat and parallel to the longitudinal axis for deliverability, but expand to a very steep angle for good resistance to collapse under aspiration. The designs can be sufficiently flexible to navigate tortuous anatomy but recover to maintain the inner diameter of the lumen when displaced in a vessel.

A catheter pump includes a cannula and an impeller system. The cannula has an inlet zone with a first maximum outer diameter, an outlet zone with a second maximum outer diameter and a blood flow channel extending between the inlet zone and the outlet zone. The first maximum outer diameter is greater than the second maximum outer diameter, and the impeller system has a rotatable impeller body operable to convey blood from the inlet zone to the outlet zone. The impeller body may be axially spaced from the cannula in a separated position.

The disclosure provides for a variable stiffness catheter. The catheter may include an inner layer forming an inner lumen, a middle layer surrounding the inner layer, and an outer layer surrounding the middle layer. The middle layer may include an annular lumen and a plurality of strings within the annular lumen, and the plurality of strings may be connected to the inner layer. Applying a vacuum and evacuating the annular lumen of the middle layer alters a frictional force between the inner layer and the outer layer and thereby changes the catheter's flexural rigidity.

Apparatus and methods for an endovascular catheter that can be inserted within tortuous body anatomies and then selectively stiffened and fixed in place. In a particular embodiment, this stiffness is reversible. The stiffness or a comparable mechanical characteristic of the catheter assembly may be adjusted to a relatively low value during insertion (so that it easily navigates a guide wire or the like), and then subsequently adjusted to a relatively high value in situ to keep the catheter assembly substantially fixed in place (i.e., during delivery of an interventional device).

Disclosed herein is a catheter pump that includes an expandable cannula and an impeller system. The expandable cannula defines a blood flow channel and includes an impeller blade zone, an inlet zone, and an outlet zone. The catheter pump further includes an impeller system including an impeller body, the impeller system movable relative to the expandable cannula along a longitudinal axis of the catheter pump. The catheter pump is selectively transitionable between a separated configuration in which the impeller body is axially spaced from the expandable cannula along the longitudinal axis, and an operational configuration in which the impeller body is positioned within the impeller blade zone of the expandable cannula.

An apparatus and method are presented for a therapy delivery device including a catheter, an endoscope and an endoscope shaft, one or more attachment features for attaching the catheter to the endoscope, wherein the catheter has an expandable lumen at a distal end and wherein the expandable lumen expands upon injection of a therapy at the proximal end of the catheter. Attachment features may be a series of clips along the length of the catheter for attaching to an endoscope or a second lumen on the catheter wherein an endoscope may through one of said lumens. Targeted therapy delivery may be a hydrogel or a chitosan hydrogel to provide a treatment within a sinus of a patient.

A percutaneous catheter provides an adjustable diameter in order to reduce pressure loss, maintain a required flow, and avoid increasing a load to the patient. A catheter tube is formed of braided wires in an intersecting manner and extends in an axial direction. A distal tip is affixed to a distal side of the catheter tube and is configured to engaged a distal end of a dilator. The catheter tube includes a non-coated portion on a proximal side of the distal tip and a coated portion embedded in a resin material. An inner diameter of the non-coated portion is larger than an outer diameter of the dilator. When the dilator is fully inserted through the percutaneous catheter, the non-coated portion expands in the axial direction, reducing its in inner diameter so that an inner surface of the non-coated portion comes into tight contact with an outer surface of the dilator.

A dual lumen drainage cannula configured for use in a VA ECMO system includes a first drainage tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one aperture in at least one wall of the first drainage tube proximate to the distal end of the first drainage tube, and a second drainage tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one aperture in at least one wall of the second drainage tube proximate to the distal end of the second drainage tube. The first drainage tube passes through the second drainage tube. The dual lumen drainage cannula also includes a sleeve positioned adjacent to an interior wall of the second drainage tube. The sleeve is formed of a flexible material so as to be expandable and collapsible within the second drainage tube.

An oral medical apparatus includes a flexible tube with a first portion adjacent a proximal end of the tube and a second portion adjacent to the first portion. A support is located within the upper portion to prevent compression or collapse of the upper portion of the tube. The oral medical apparatus can accommodate a rigid connector that may be directly coupled to an anesthesia breathing circuit or a medical breathing device.

A catheter insertable into a urethra to drain urine from a bladder includes a tubular portion, a sleeve disposed relative to the tubular portion, with the tubular portion having a bendable zone that is configured to allow the catheter to fold to a compact length. The catheter has a total catheter length measured between an end of a connector that is attachable to a drainage bag and an insertion end of the tubular portion that is insertable into the bladder. The compact length is less than the total catheter length, and the sleeve is operable to support the tubular portion by removing the bend in the bendable zone to thus align the connector axially with the insertion end of the tubular portion.