A catheter insertion device and method for insertion. The catheter insertion device can include a housing, a needle attached to a needle carrier, a catheter including a catheter shaft attached to a catheter hub, and a guidewire. The guidewire can include a coil tip positioned in a lumen of the needle. The method for insertion can include inserting a distal end of the needle and the catheter shaft into a blood vessel of a patient, advancing the coil tip out of the needle lumen and into the blood vessel, advancing the catheter over the guidewire, and withdrawing the guidewire and the needle from the catheter. The coil tip can include a straightened configuration and a coiled configuration. The coil tip can transition from the straightened configuration in the needle lumen to the coiled configuration in the blood vessel.

A short length flexible catheter with hollow guide wire and flushing port for convection enhanced delivery may be provided. The short length CED catheter may include a catheter body made of silicone or plastic. The short length catheter may further include an attachment port connected to a first end of the flexible, hollow guide wire contained within the catheter body. The hollow catheter guide wire may extend beyond the catheter body on one end for both enhanced tunneling and simultaneous use of flushing.

A catheter includes a proximal shaft and a distal shaft having differing diameters; often, the distal shaft will have a smaller diameter than the proximal shaft. A coupling joins the distal shaft to the proximal shaft. For example, a proximal portion of the distal shaft can be inserted into the coupling through its distal end, while the proximal portion of the coupling can be inserted into the proximal shaft through its distal end. To provide an atraumatic transition from the distal shaft to the proximal shaft, coupling can taper towards its distal end, for example by using a dome- or frustoconical-shape for the distal portion of the coupling. The exterior of the coupling can be ribbed to facilitate bonding to the proximal shaft. The distal shaft can be formed into at least a partial loop having a fixed or variable radius of curvature.

A guidewire insertion tool includes a sidewall defining a passageway having a first open end and a second open end and a neck therebetween. The passageway tapers from the first and second open ends to the neck. The sidewall has a slit extending longitudinally along the sidewall. A tab is adjacent one of the first or second open ends for removing the tool from a guidewire through the slit.

A torque for controlling the advancement and rotation of a right heart catheter during a right heart catheterization procedure. The torque has a casing with a cavity for receiving a core, and a lumen for receiving the right heart catheter. A gripper is disposed within the core to tightly grip the right heart catheter. The core has a plurality of threads that engage teeth of a handle. The handle is attached to the casing at an axis and rotates about the axis during use. The core has an elongated spiraled recess which is engaged by a guide pin attached to the casing and extending within the cavity. When the handle is rotated, the teeth of the handle engage the threads to rotate the core, and the guide pin engages the elongated spiraled recess to move the core laterally, thereby advancing and rotating the right heart catheter.

A portable hand-held medical device includes a body having a gun-type formation that includes a barrel. A guide wire device is housed in the body and is configured to advance and retract through the barrel. The guide wire device carries a bundled arrangement including a video system, an illumination system to support the video system, a fluid irrigation line, and a guide wire mechanism. The bundled arrangement is packaged as a unit in an insertion tube. The tip section of the insertion tube incorporates a camera, a light source, and a fluid irrigation port. A catheter is disposed at the end of the barrel, so that during operation the guide wire device passes through the catheter lumen. The combination guide wire device and catheter enter the urinary tract and perform a bladder evacuation process.

The embodiments presented herein relate to concepts designed to eliminate the gap between a catheter and guide wire that can otherwise contribute to a catheter getting stuck within the vasculature.

A guidewire system may include a guidewire having a relatively stiff proximal section and a relatively flexible distal section joined by a transition region, and a TAVI device slidably disposed on the guidewire. The guidewire may include an expandable element disposed about the transition region. The expandable element may be configured to expand from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration. The guidewire may include an expandable element disposed at the distal end. The distal section may be pre-configured to form more than one distal loop. A method of protecting an apex of a left ventricle during a TAVI procedure may include inserting a guidewire into the left ventricle, positioning a transition region adjacent the apex, expanding an expandable element such that the expandable element spans the apex, advancing a TAVI device distally over the guidewire to an aortic valve, and performing a TAVI procedure at the aortic valve.

A venous access catheter is combined with a needle, guidewire, and actuator where the needle is disposed coaxially over the guidewire and the catheter is disposed coaxially over the needle. A hub at a proximal end of the access catheter includes a wiping element to clean blood from the needle and guidewire as they are removed and a side port to allow connection of fluids after the access catheter is placed.

The invention relates to a low profile lumen free balloon catheter and a system for advancing the lumen free balloon from a build wire to a wire guide. The low profile balloon lacks an internal wire guide cannula between the catheter shaft and the soft tip. A releasable engagement is provided to connect/disconnect the build wire to/from the wire guide. A soft tip seals around the wire guide following advancement of the balloon catheter over the wire guide.