Systems and methods can involve wedge dissectors attached to strips in turn attached to medical balloons, for forming serrations within vascular wall tissue for angioplasty as well as drug delivery.

A balloon embolization apparatus, system and method include a detachable balloon device mounted to the distal end of a catheter or microcatheter. The balloon device includes an elongated cannula having first and second axial lumens defined in the cannula, one lumen which allows for travel over a wire, an inflatable balloon disposed on the cannula, and a valve sleeve disposed between the balloon and the cannula. An inflation port on the cannula allows fluid to be introduced to the balloon via a channel in the catheter. The valve sleeve includes a vent offset from the inflation port in the cannula. The valve sleeve allows the introduced fluid to inflate the balloon, but prevents the fluid from escaping, thereby forming a check valve. Once inflated, the catheter is detached from the balloon apparatus. When the catheter is withdrawn, the balloon remains in place to allow for embolization.

An occlusion catheter system includes an inflation catheter member and an occlusion balloon. The proximal and distal balloon ends are connected to the inflation catheter between the proximal and distal catheter ends. A distal pressure sensor is attached to the inflation catheter member between the proximal balloon end and the atraumatic tip. An inflatable spine is connected to the inflation catheter. The proximal spine end is connected to the inflation catheter near the proximal balloon end and the distal spine end is connected to the inflation catheter near the distal balloon end. The occlusion balloon and the inflatable spine are configured to define blood flow channels with the internal surface and the external balloon surface when the occlusion catheter system is at least partially positioned in the vessel and the occlusion balloon and the inflatable spine are in a partially inflated configuration.

A balloon embolization apparatus, system and method include a detachable balloon device mounted to the distal end of a catheter or microcatheter. The balloon device includes an elongated cannula having first and second axial lumens defined in the cannula, one lumen which allows for travel over a wire, an inflatable balloon disposed on the cannula, and a valve sleeve disposed between the balloon and the cannula. An inflation port on the cannula allows fluid to be introduced to the balloon via a channel in the catheter. The valve sleeve includes a vent offset from the inflation port in the cannula. The valve sleeve allows the introduced fluid to inflate the balloon, but prevents the fluid from escaping, thereby forming a check valve. Once inflated, the catheter is detached from the balloon apparatus. When the catheter is withdrawn, the balloon remains in place to allow for embolization.

The present disclosure generally relates to devices, systems, and methods for Fallopian tube diagnostics. In some embodiments, a tube may have a distal end, and a balloon may be coupled to the distal end of the tube. The balloon may be disposed in the tube in a first, inverted position and movable to a second, everted position. The balloon may be extendable a distance distal of the tube distal end such that a surface of the balloon is contactable with an inner surface of the Fallopian tube. A push wire may have a distal end coupled to a second end of the balloon. The balloon may be movable from the first inverted position to the second everted position by actuation of the push wire. The surface of the balloon may include a plurality of surface features for collection of a tissue sample of the inner surface of the Fallopian tube.

A balloon catheter includes a tubular inner shaft, a balloon partly covering the inner shaft and having a distal end joined to the inner shaft, and a tubular outer shaft accommodating a part of the inner shaft. The outer shaft includes a balloon joint joined to a base end of the balloon and a reduced diameter area being accommodated in the balloon and having a smaller outer diameter than the balloon joint part, and is joined to the inner shaft in the balloon. A communication hole provides a flow path between the expansion lumen and the inside of the balloon. In the balloon, an outer diameter on the outermost periphery of a structure formed by the inner shaft, the X-ray opaque marker, and the outer shaft decreases continuously or stepwise from the base end toward the distal end of the balloon.

A catheter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a mesh member, a first hollow shaft, a front end tip, a guiding film, a second hollow shaft, and a core wire. The mesh member has a tubular shape and is radially expandable and contractable. The guiding film is disposed on the mesh member and has a front end located between a base end of the front end tip and a front end of the first hollow shaft. A thickness of the front end of the guiding film is larger than a thickness of a portion where a thickness of the guiding film is the smallest.

The current document is directed to length-adjustable catheters and methods that employ length-adjustable catheters to treat malformations, constrictions, obstructions, lesions, and blockages within patients' blood vessels. The length of the shaft of a length-adjustable catheter, to which the current application is directed, can be adjusted over a range of lengths prior to and during medical procedures. In many implementations, length adjustment is accompanied by indications, to the medical provider, of the extent of a length adjustment. The indications may include one or more of visual markings, haptic feedback, radio-opaque markings, and/or other types of indications. In many implementations, the variable-length mechanism of the length-adjustable catheter is mechanically lockable following length adjustment.

This patent document discloses perfusion catheters and related methods for treating complications related to CTO interventions or dilating a vessel occlusion while maintaining a passage through the treated vessel segment. A perfusion catheter can include an inflatable balloon coiled in a helical manner around a central axis into a series of windings. An inner surface of the series of windings, when inflated, can define a passage through the inflatable balloon. A catheter can also include an elongate shaft extending from a proximal portion to a distal portion, having an inner surface that defines a lumen for providing inflation fluid to, or withdrawing inflation fluid from, a distal end of the inflatable balloon. A catheter can further include a guidewire support tube including a lumen, separate from the lumen from the elongate shaft and the passage through the inflatable balloon, for receiving a guidewire.

The invention locally delivers a chemotherapeutic or a radiographic contrast agent to an upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The invention includes a balloon catheter with a working channel and a balloon placed into the ureter/renal pelvis via retrograde or antegrade ureteral access. The balloon is inflated to temporarily obstruct the ureter, and a formulation with a chemotherapeutic agent is infused into the working channel of the catheter and allowed to dwell in the ureter/renal pelvis for a time sufficient to allow the formulation to adhere to and penetrate the urothelial wall. The formulations can be liposomal or non-liposomal formulations. At least portion of the infused chemotherapeutic-agent formulation adheres to the urothelial wall while it is instilled and dwells in the ureter/renal pelvis. The methods of the invention can be performed as an adjuvant therapy to other methods of treating UTUC, including ureteroscopic ablation or resection of the tumor.