Angioplasty and other dilatation devices are provided with scoring elements which incorporate a drug to be delivered to a body lumen, typically a blood vessel. The scoring elements have drugs and other active substances coated over a portion thereof or incorporated within internal structure of the element so that the drug is released into the luminal wall closely associated diseased regions of the body lumen as the scoring structure is radially expanded into the wall.

An occlusion catheter system includes a proximal hub having an inflation connection port and an inflation pathway. An inflation catheter member is connected to the proximal hub and has an inflation lumen. A stiffener member defines a longitudinal axis. The proximal end of the stiffener member is connected to the proximal hub. The stiffener member extends through a portion of the inflation lumen. An occlusion balloon has a proximal balloon end and a distal balloon end. A distal catheter member is positioned substantially on the longitudinal axis and is connected to the distal end of the stiffener member. An atraumatic tip is positioned on a distal end of the distal catheter member. The atraumatic tip has a substantially circular profile in a relaxed configuration. A pressure sensor is connected to the occlusion catheter system distally relative to the occlusion balloon and is connected to a processor by electrical wiring.

A catheter 100 is comprised of a shaft 120 having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end being the end an end of the catheter 100 to be placed within the bladder 105, the proximal end being the end of the catheter 100 to be coupled to the inputs outside of the body, the shaft 120 having at least three discrete lumens, the at least three lumens including an inflation lumen 124, the inflation lumen 124 in fluid communication with an inflation side hole 130 in the shaft 120. The shaft has a drug delivery lumen 122, the drug delivery lumen 122 in fluid communication with a drug fluid side hole 128 in the shaft 120. The shaft has a bladder fluid lumen 126, the bladder fluid lumen 126 in fluid communication with a bladder drainage aperture 132 in the shaft 120, wherein distally refers to a distal reference direction 101 towards the elements to be placed in the bladder, and proximally refers to a proximal reference direction 103 towards inputs that remain outside of the body, wherein drug delivery lumen 122, the inflation lumen 124, and the bladder fluid lumen 126 are not in fluid communication.

Disclosed herein are designs for improved inflatable structures for use during minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures. These inflatable structures facilitate the perfusion of blood through an anatomical structure, such as a heart valve, during the cardiovascular procedure. The inflatable structures are formed of a plurality of balloons arranged radially around a central location. The plurality of balloons form a lumen through which blood flows. Each balloon of the plurality is shaped or configured to stabilize the adjacent balloons, limiting their movement relative to each other. For example, some embodiments can feature balloons with a keystone shape that limits movement of the balloons inward toward the lumen. Some implementations can also include a support coil running through the lumen. The support coil holds enables the lumen to be open to perfusion even in the early stages of balloon inflation.

A balloon catheter by which a drug can be effectively delivered to living body tissue and a method of manufacturing the balloon catheter, and a treatment method. The balloon catheter is provided on an outer surface of a balloon with a plurality of elongate bodies which are independent crystals of a water-insoluble drug that extend in an elongate form. The elongate bodies have long axes extending in directions along the outer surface of the balloon when the balloon is in a deflated state. Deformation, when the balloon is inflated from the deflated state, of portions on an outer surface side of the balloon to which end portions of the elongate bodies are fixed causes a force to act on the elongate bodies such that the long axes of the elongate bodies approach perpendicularity to the outer surface of the balloon.

A drug delivery catheter includes a first axially extending elongate member, a second axially extending elongate member, and a main chamber wall. The inner surface of the main chamber wall defines a main chamber. The distal end of the main chamber wall is joined to the distal end of the second axially extending elongate member and the proximal end of the main chamber wall is joined to the distal end of the first axially extending elongate member such that the main chamber is disposed over a distal portion of at least the second elongate member. One or more shockwave-generating elements are disposed within the main chamber. The main chamber is in fluid communication with the lumen of the first elongate member. The drug delivery catheter is configured to deliver an active agent to a target site through the lumen of the first elongate member.

Methods and apparatus are provided to facilitate the minimally invasive removal of tissue biopsies and to facilitate the direct approach to anesthetizing the chest wall, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. A pull-type cutting device 1 comprises two coaxially nested tubes, each extending from a proximal end 21 to a distal end 22. The first tube 61 defines a guide wire lumen 23 for slidingly receiving a guide wire. The second tube 63 extends over the first tube 60 and coupled thereto at the distal end 22 defining an expandable portion 13 adjacent the distal end 22. The second tube 63 defines an inflation lumen 25 extending from the shaft proximal end 21 to the expandable portion 13. The inflation lumen 25 communicates inflation fluid from the proximal end 21 to the expandable portion 13 so as to inflate and deploy the expandable portion 13. Disposed adjacent the shaft distal end 22 is a cutting head 10 comprising the expandable portion 13 having a cutting portion 11 distal from the shaft distal end 22.

A serration balloon can have a number of different components and can be made in a number of different manners. One or more longitudinally extending members with periodic raised wedges can be attached to a medical balloon. They can be attached with a fiber coating, a polymer coating, or other methods. A polymer matrix can be used to bond the longitudinally extending member to the surface of the balloon. The fiber coating can be, for example, a thread or mesh that secures the longitudinally extending member to the balloon. The medical balloon can be an angioplasty balloon, such as an off-the-shelf angioplasty balloon.

A cage can be positioned around a medical balloon, such as an angioplasty balloon, to assist in a medical procedure. The cage can include a plurality of strips, each extending between a set of rings including first and second rings. As the balloon expands, the first and second rings move closer together and allow the strips to expand outward. The cage may have wedge dissectors on the strips.

Inflatable devices are disclosed including a surface which has a network of polymer chains and is configured to be inflatable into a therapeutically or diagnostically useful shape, and at least one ultrashort laser pulse-formed modification in the surface. The network can, for example, include a network morphology that is substantially unchanged by modification with the ultrashort pulse laser. Ultrashort laser pulses can be laser pulses equal to or less than 1000 picoseconds in duration. Advantageously, the etching process uses a relatively low-heat laser to avoid significant heating of surrounding polymers while modifying the surface (and other structures) of the device. The process is configured so that the polymer chain morphology adjacent the modification is substantially unaffected by the low-heat laser. The resulting inflatable device has customized surface features while still retaining substantially homogenous polymer network morphology. This preserves the elasticity, especially the surface elasticity, of the inflatable device.