A guidewire includes a guidewire shaft and an inflatable element arranged at a distal end of the guidewire shaft. At least a portion of the guidewire shaft is formed of metal, and the guidewire shaft includes a lumen that fluidly communicates with an interior of the inflatable element. The inflatable element is operable to transition between a deflated state in which the inflatable element is configured to pass through an isthmus of a Eustachian tube (ET), and an inflated state in which the inflatable element is configured to dilate the ET.

A system comprising: a fluid supply configured for the delivery of a fluid; a hollow body in fluid-communication with the fluid supply, the hollow body configured to be disposed between a first biological surface and a second biological surface; and a mechanism configured to control delivery of fluid from the fluid supply and through the hollow body to create separation between the first biological surface and the second biological surface.

A method for making a neutral hybrid braided structure may involve positioning a first set of wires on a braiding machine in a first set of positions, positioning a second set of wires on the braiding machine in a second set of positions so that the first set of positions and the second set of positions form a neutral hybrid braiding pattern, and braiding the first set of wires and the second set of wires on the braiding machine to form the neutral hybrid braided structure. Each wire in the first set of wires has a first cross-sectional diameter, and each wire in the second set of wires has a second cross-sectional diameter that is smaller than the first cross-sectional diameter.

A method may include accessing an artery in communication with an ophthalmic artery of a subject, and advancing a microcatheter along the accessed artery so as to align a distal end of the microcatheter with an ostium of the ophthalmic artery, wherein the microcatheter includes a lumen having a guidewire positioned therein. In addition, the method includes proximally withdrawing the guidewire relative to the microcatheter so as to enable a distal portion of the microcatheter to assume a curved relaxed configuration, and cannulating the ostium with the distal portion of the microcatheter when the distal portion is in the curved relaxed configuration.

A steerable guide wire and/or a catheter device and associated method. The device includes a guide wire having a distal end, a hollow interior, and an anchoring mechanism positioned proximate to the distal end of the guide wire. The device further includes a core wire is slidably inserted into the hollow interior of the guide wire. Upon insertion, the core wire actuates the anchoring mechanism to anchor the guide wire at an anchoring location.

A medical probe includes a hollow guidewire, a balloon, and a magnetic position sensor. The hollow guidewire is configured for insertion into a channel of an organ of a patient. The balloon is fixed to a distal end of the hollow guidewire, is configured to be inserted into the channel using the hollow guidewire, and is further configured to be inflated by pumping of fluid through the hollow guidewire. The magnetic position sensor is fitted at the distal end of the hollow guidewire.

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed that help deliver catheters or other medical devices to locations within a patient's body. The device includes a transporter catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, at least a first balloon located at the distal end, substantially at a tip of the transporter catheter, and at least a second balloon located between the distal end and the proximal end of the transporter catheter. The first balloon is an orienting balloon and the second balloon is an anchor balloon. The transporter catheter may include a single lumen or more than one lumen. The transporter catheter may have a shaft including an inner layer and an outer layer, the inner layer may be made of a material more flexible than the material of the outer layer. The outer layer may also include a braided wire assembly, said braided wire assembly being formed by braiding a plurality of flat wires or circular wires. The braided wire assembly may wrap around the inner layer. The transporter catheter may have a shaft that may include a plurality of segments of varying degrees of hardness. The degree of hardness of the segment of the shaft of the transporter catheter located between the first balloon and the second balloon may be less than the degree of hardness of the segment of the shaft between the second balloon and the proximal end of the catheter.

The present invention relates to a method of delivering drugs having e.g., anti-proliferative activity in the vascular, preferably, the cardiovascular, system locally or systematically using an at least partially drug-coated guidewire. The drug-coated guidewire, particularly an expansion member or portion thereof, is brought into contact with the target tissue or in circulation and the drugs are quickly released into the area surrounding the device in a short time after the contact step. Once the therapeutic drugs are released, they are quickly and effectively absorbed by the surrounding cells or circulation.

The current document is directed to usable-length-selectable catheters that employ usable-length-selectable catheters to treat malformations, constrictions, obstructions, lesions, and blockages within patients' blood vessels. The usable length of the shaft of a usable-length-selectable catheter, to which the current application is directed, can be adjusted over a set of lengths prior to and during medical procedures.

A lumenal element configured to transit a body lumen comprising a lumenal member (102) and an outer member (200) disposed over at least part of the lumenal member with a structural support (350), e.g. a mesh or stent, having a facing surface facing a surface of the lumenal member and wherein the facing surface includes at least one non-smooth surface portion, discontinuity, or non-uniformity, wherein the structural support is between the lumenal member and the outer member wherein the outermember is at least partly sealed to adjacent surfaces of the lumenal member sufficient to withstand fluid pressure within a space about the structural support, wherein the lumenal member has a first flexibility in the area of the structural support, and increasing the flexibility of the area of the structural support by moving at least a part of the outer member out of contact with the structural support. The flexibility of a lumenal element can be changed. Also disclosed a method of assembly of the lumenal element.