Methods and devices for performing minimally invasive procedures useful for Fallopian tube diagnostics are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the proximal os of the Fallopian tube is accessed via an intrauterine approach; an introducer catheter is advanced to cannulate and form a fluid tight seal with the proximal os of the Fallopian tube; a second catheter inside the introducer catheter is provided to track the length of the Fallopian tube and out into the abdominal cavity; a balloon at the end of the second catheter is inflated and the second catheter is retracted until the balloon seals the distal os of the Fallopian tube; irrigation is performed substantially over the length of the Fallopian tube; and the irrigation fluid is recovered for cytology or cell analysis.

Disclosed herein is a drug-coated balloon catheter including: a hub; a soft tip; a tube which connects the hub and the soft tip and is formed of a material having higher rigidity than the soft tip; and a balloon which is mounted on the tube and coated with a drug on the surface, wherein the tube includes: a guide lumen which allows a guide wire to be movable, the guide wire being inserted into a blood vessel via the hub; and an injection lumen into which a contrast medium is injected, the contrast medium being injected into the balloon through the hub or discharged therefrom, wherein the injection lumen includes: a flow center which is a portion corresponding to a width of the guide lumen; and a pair of bend supports which is extended beyond both end portions of the guide lumen on both sides of the flow center and deformed in response to bending of the tube, and the injection lumen has a cross-sectional area more than a half of a cross-sectional area of the guide lumen.

A method for maintaining a balloon of a balloon catheter at a prescribed pressure of between about 0.2 psi and 1 psi comprises the step of: generating a vacuum within a reservoir defined in a burette that is part of a fluid management system that is configured to controllably inflating and deflating the balloon by circulating balloon fill media along a fluid circuit, wherein generating the vacuum results in formation of a pressure differential along the fluid circuit, thereby allowing the balloon to be maintained at the prescribed pressure between about 0.2 psi and about 1 psi.

Described herein is a shock wave device for the treatment of vascular occlusions. The shock wave device includes an outer covering and an inner member inner connected at a distal end of the device. First and second conductive wires extend along the length of the device within the volume between the outer covering and the inner member. A conductive emitter band circumscribes the ends of the first and second wires to form a first spark gap between the end of the first wire and the emitter band and a second spark gap between the end of the second wire and the emitter band. When the volume is filled with conductive fluid and a high voltage pulse is applied across the first and second wires, first and second shock waves can be initiated from the first and second spark gaps.

A connector (1) includes: a tube (10) configured to be arranged in an interior of a vascular channel; a tubular body (30) having an inner wall surface configured to, together with an outer wall surface of the tube (10), sandwich the vascular channel when the tube (10) is arranged in the interior of the vascular channel; and a balloon (20), configured to be arranged on the outer wall surface of the tube (10) or the inner wall surface of the tubular body (30), and radially expand for performing sealing (i) between the soft tubular member and the inner wall surface of the tubular body (30) and (ii) between the soft tubular member and the outer wall surface of the tube (10). A fluid supply system (100) may include the connector (1), and a perfusion solution supply device (120) connected to the connector (1) and configured to supply a perfusion solution into the interior of the vascular channel.

A multi-purpose balloon intra-cavity catheter includes a catheter having a proximal end portion, a central portion and a non-branching distal end portion, a plurality of lumens associated with the catheter extending from the proximal end portion, and a plurality of inflatable balloons positioned in the central portion and/or the non-branching distal end portion. Each of the plurality of inflatable balloons is communicatively associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of lumens, the plurality of inflatable balloons being selectively inflated or deflated to position and stabilize the catheter in a cavity for delivery of a medical treatment. The catheter can include an extraction opening associated with a lumen to remove fluids and materials from the cavity, and a connector associated with a corresponding lumen adapted to selectively receive one or more of a fluid medium or a radioactive isotope provided to a corresponding lumen for delivery of the medical treatment.

A guide extension catheter with improved stability includes an elongated pushing portion connected to an extension portion with a balloon disposed near its distal end. An inflation lumen extends along a length of the pushing portion and the extension portion to feed fluid into an interior of the balloon. Introduction of fluid into the balloon expands it radially outward from the extension to apply pressure against an inner wall of the vessel to anchor the distal end of the extension within the vessel.

An effortless means for deflating a balloon of a catheter. A catheter system includes a catheter, a circuit for making fluid flow through the catheter, and a drive device having a bidirectionally drivable pump and a controller. The catheter includes an inflatable balloon, and a first lumen and a second lumen that allow the fluid to flow through the balloon. The controller drives the pump in a first direction to make the fluid flow from a buffer tank via a first flow path into the first lumen and to make the fluid flow out from the second lumen via a second flow path to the buffer tank, and drives the pump in a second direction opposite to the first direction to make the fluid flow from the first lumen via the first flow path into the buffer tank.

Some systems and methods for operating a vessel occlusion catheter may include a control and inflation device to control the filling of the balloon in such a manner that the vessel wall will not be overstressed while the safe occlusion of the blood vessel is achieved.

Provided herein in some embodiments is an apparatus including a composite balloon with a tubular fiber layer and a polymeric balloon layer over the fiber layer. Also provided herein in some embodiments is a method including inserting a collapsed fiber tube into an expanded polymeric balloon, expanding the collapsed fiber tube to provide an expanded fiber tube, and securing an outer surface of the expanded fiber tube to an inner surface of the expanded polymeric balloon. The method can further include inserting a distal portion of an elongate catheter body through a center of the composite balloon and securing the composite balloon to the distal portion. Thereby, the method can include forming the catheter body with the composite balloon configured to apply a pressure to surrounding walls of an anatomical vessel in an inflated state of the composite balloon to modify one or more intravascular lesions in the anatomical vessel.