A clot retrieval catheter can have a tailored, highly flexible body section capable of navigating tortuous routes and an expandable tip for local flow restriction/arrest. The body can be a support tube of struts with a plurality of ribs and one or more axial spines. The support tube can also be a tubular section with a pattern of radial slots to increase flexibility while inhibiting kinking and binding. The ribs and spines can have strut widths which vary along the length of the support tube or can have curves with a non-planar cross section. The ribs can be formed such that they can move when subjected to the loads of a thrombectomy procedure. The structure of the support tube can also be a braided or woven pattern of strands. The support tube can also have a polymer jacket or membrane disposed around at least a portion of the structure.

A rigidizing device includes an elongate flexible tube, a braid layer positioned over the elongate flexible tube, an outer layer over the flexible tube and the braid layer, and an inlet between the elongate flexible tube and the outer layer and configured to attach to a source of vacuum or pressure. The braid layer has a plurality of strands braided together at a braid angle of 5-40 degrees relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongate flexible tube when the elongate flexible tube is straight. The rigidizing device is configured to have a rigid configuration when vacuum or pressure is applied through the inlet and a flexible configuration when vacuum or pressure is not applied through the inlet. The braid angle is configured to change as the rigidizing device bends when the rigidizing device is in the flexible configuration.

A prosthetic heart valve delivery system can include a catheter portion having a sheath that can cover and uncover the prosthetic heart valve mounted on an inner shaft, a handle having a sheath actuator operatively coupled to a proximal portion of the sheath, the inner shaft extending through the handle, and a shaft retractor releasably coupled to a proximal portion of the handle and fixedly coupled to a proximal portion of the inner shaft. A sheath actuator can move the sheath axially relative to the inner shaft when the shaft retractor is coupled to the handle, and a proximal movement of the sheath relative to the inner shaft can cause the sheath to uncover the prosthetic heart valve. The shaft retractor can be operable to retract the inner shaft and the nosecone proximally relative to the sheath when the shaft retractor is released from the handle.

An embolization microcatheter having an elongated microcatheter body configured for passing therein a suspension of particles suspended in a suspension fluid; and a microcatheter head connected to a distal end of said microcatheter body and comprising a proximal head section and a distal head section, wherein the proximal head section includes a proximal wall forming a proximal section lumen, the proximal wall having a plurality of through-holes, wherein the distal head section includes a distal wall forming a distal section lumen, and a suspension delivery opening at a distal end of the distal end section; wherein the distal section is devoid of through-holes, and wherein each of the plurality of through-holes are shaped and/or sized to allow passage therethrough of the suspension fluid while blocking passage of the particles suspended therein.

Endovascular drug delivery systems and methods are disclosed herein for delivering a therapeutic agent to the intracranial subarachnoid space of a patient, and/or deploying an endovascular drug delivery device distal portion in the intracranial subarachnoid space and a portion of the drug delivery device body in a dural venous sinus such that a therapeutic agent is delivered from the deployed drug delivery device into the intracranial subarachnoid space.

System for monitoring and regulating plant productivity comprising: a memory for storing instructions; a processor for executing the instructions to cause a method of monitoring and regulating plant productivity to be performed, the method comprising: receiving field data from monitoring sensors; computing, by the at least one processor executing a machine learning algorithm, a predicted value for a variable associated with the production environment condition of a crop field, the machine learning algorithm having been trained based on a training set comprising one or both of (a) the field data from the monitoring sensors, and (b) a generated feature derived from the field data; and determining, based on a threshold associated with the variable, that the predicted value for the variable indicates that an intervention in the crop field is to be initiated; and in response to the determining, causing a controllable device to vary the production environment condition.

A catheter assembly may include a catheter adapter, which may include a distal end, a proximal end, and a lumen extending through the distal end of the catheter adapter and the proximal end of the catheter adapter. The catheter assembly may include a catheter extending distally from the distal end of the catheter adapter. The catheter assembly may include an introducer needle extending through the catheter. An anti-thrombogenic material may be extruded through a die and/or molded to form one or more portions of the catheter assembly. Additionally or alternatively, inner surfaces and/or outer surfaces of one or more portions of the catheter assembly may be coated with an anti-thrombogenic coating that includes the anti-thrombogenic material.

Cut-pattern designs creating a frame structure from a solid tube, which may be used as a portion of medical device, such as a catheter. The tube includes a plurality of units of cutout segments which are distributed in band around a circumference of the tube. A tube can have multiple different zones, each having units with varying cutout segments. The cutout segments can have varying cutout surface area allowing the flexibility of the tube to be modified at any point along the tube by altering the cutout surface area with zones having greater cutout surface areas as compared to another zone are more flexible. The tube can be incorporated into a catheter.

The present disclosure relates to guidewire devices having shapeable tips and effective torquability. A guidewire device includes a core having a proximal section and a tapered distal section. A tube structure is coupled to the core such that the tapered distal section of the core extends into and distally beyond the tube structure. The portion of the core extending distally beyond the tube forms a shapeable tip. One or more coils also extend distally beyond the tube. The tip is configured to reduce the tendency of resilient forces from the tube structure to disrupt a customized shape of the tip.

An embolization microcatheter is configured to deliver embolization particles to a target area and minimize or prevent embolization of a non-target area. The microcatheter includes a section, located between the distal and proximal ends of the microcatheter, having a skeleton formed of braided wires and a polymeric layer intercalated into and/or overlaying the skeleton. This section includes a plurality of axial slits, each slit having a smallest cross-sectional dimension configured to prevent outflow of the embolization particles.