A catheter system that is actuatable to a deployed state and includes a catheter body and a dilator positioned at least partially within the lumen of the catheter. A distal end of the dilator can be releasably connected to a distal tip of the catheter body. The dilator can be retractable to expand and invert the distal tip and form a funnel shape in the deployed state.

The subject guide catheter extension system with a micro-catheter delivery catheter includes an outer sheath, an inner member extending within the sheath, and a mechanism for engagement/disengagement of the inner member to/from the sheath. Several mechanisms of engagement/disengagement between the inner and outer members are provided including a friction mechanism, threaded mechanism, pull away sheath, and engagement/disengagement mechanism for pusher's handles. The sheath and the inner member are modified for different engagement/disengagement mechanisms operation. A micro-catheter delivery system provides for an improved atraumatic crossability to the treatment site in an expedited and simplified fashion. During a procedure, a guidewire along with a guide catheter are advanced to the vicinity of the treatment site within a blood vessel. Subsequent thereto, the subject guide catheter extension system is manipulated to advance the micro-catheter along the guidewire inside the guide catheter towards and beyond the site of interest. Once the micro-catheter is in place, the outer sheath slides along the micro-catheter until reaching the lesion, and then the inner member is removed from the sheath, and the sheath then is ready for passing the treatment catheter (stent/balloon) towards the lesion to be treated.

A catheter assembly includes an outer shaft having an outer shaft body forming an outer shaft bore that receives an inner shaft. The outer shaft has a wire transition section. The catheter assembly includes an exit path connector coupled to the outer shaft body at the wire transition section. The exit path connector has a rigid body section separate and discrete from the outer shaft body and coupled to the outer shaft body. The body section defines an exit path connector bore that receives the inner shaft. The body section has a side exit port at a side of the body section being open to the exit path connector bore. The catheter assembly includes a catheter wire passing through the side exit port from an interior to an exterior of the cable exit port.

The guide catheter extension system for various intravascular procedures, including the reverse CART procedure, the thrombus removal, etc., has an enhanced ”capturing” capability. It is configured with a plastically expandable scaffold member forming an expandable “funnel-like” distal opening, and, once it has been advanced into the subintimal space, provides an enhanced capability of catching the retrograde wire or a thrombus, as required by the procedure. A balloon delivered to the target location in the blood vessel, by being inflated, opens the scaffold member to enhance the delivery of the retrograde wire or the thrombus into the guide catheter extension. When the guide catheter extension is no longer needed, the flared guide extension can be easily compressed and collapsed as it is drawn in the guiding catheter. For benefits of the thrombus removal, the balloon may be formed from a material loaded with a radiopaque material and prefabricated with micro pores. A thrombolytic agent can be delivered to the thrombus before the thrombus is conveniently captured in the expanded distal opening of the scaffold member and removed from the blood vessel by aspiration. The outer or inner catheter may be configured with a distal curved portion to enhance a rotational capability for displacement between the right and left pulmonary arteries.

A flexible tubular drive shaft for a medical device comprising: an elongated tubular body having an opening extending along a longitudinal axis from a proximal end and a distal end. The elongated tubular body includes a proximal portion having a first rigid section and a first flexible section; a middle portion having a second rigid section; and a distal portion having a second flexible section. The first rigid section is configured to couple the tubular drive shaft to a torque input apparatus to transfer torque to the distal end of the tubular body. The first flexible section is configured to minimize torsion of the tubular body between the first rigid section and the second rigid section, and the second flexible section is configured to increase flexibility of the distal portion of the tubular body.

A method of performing a medical procedure in a cerebral vessel of a patient including advancing a first catheter system towards an embolus within a cerebral blood vessel and a second catheter system towards the embolus through the first catheter, applying aspiration pressure through the lumen of the second catheter; anchoring a distal end of the second catheter onto the embolus via the aspiration pressure; applying a proximally-directed force on the second catheter; and advancing the first catheter over the second catheter towards the embolus while the distal end of the second catheter remains anchored onto the embolus; and automatically applying aspiration pressure within the first catheter upon the second catheter portion entering into the first catheter.

A delivery apparatus includes a steerable guide sheath. The steerable guide sheath has a steerable portion, a pull ring located in the distal portion, and a pull wire coupled at one end to the pull ring and coupled at the opposite end to a control handle. The pull wire extends longitudinally through a pull-wire conduit. The steerable guide sheath further includes a compression-resistance portion made of metal and located in the distal portion.

A catheter includes a hollow shaft and an outer shaft arranged at an outer periphery of the hollow shaft. The hollow shaft includes a reinforcing body having a plurality of slits extending spirally. Proximal ends of the slits are at a same axial position and at equal intervals in a circumferential direction.

In some examples, a catheter includes an elongated body comprising proximal and distal portions. The distal portion of the elongated body comprises an inner liner that includes a proximal liner section and a distal liner section that include different materials, and an outer jacket positioned over the inner liner. The distal liner section has a first hardness and the proximal liner section has a second hardness, where the first hardness is less than the second hardness.

An introducer assembly includes a catheter having a proximal end, a distal end extending to a distal tip of the introducer assembly, and an outer catheter wall. The catheter includes a medical device holding portion proximate the distal end, a guide wire lumen extending between the proximal and distal ends, and a side opening extending through the outer wall to the guide wire lumen. The side opening and the guide wire lumen are simultaneously open and the guide wire lumen and side opening are able to receive a guide wire therethrough. The catheter is flexible at least in the location of the side opening. The catheter also includes a plurality of one stiffening mandrel lumens extending from the proximal end and a plurality of stiffening mandrels.