A contact portion, provided in an exposed surface of the treating section, treats a treated object by a transmitted ultrasonic vibration while intruding into the treated object toward an intruding direction from a state being in contact with the treated object. An index portion is disposed on an anti-intruding direction side with respect to the contact portion in the exposed surface. The index portion becomes an index indicating an intruding amount of the contact portion into the treated object toward the intruding direction. The index portion includes index surfaces arranged in the intruding direction, and each of the index surfaces has an angle relative to the intruding direction which is different from the angle of the adjacent index surface.

A medical device and method for breaking a concretion in a body into smaller pieces are described. The device comprises a combined probe including a laser waveguide probe and a nanosecond electro-pulse lithotripter probe. The method includes applying the laser waveguide probe to the surface of the concretion, and treating the surface with laser radiation to create a defect. The method also includes applying the nanosecond electro-pulse lithotripter probe to the area of the defect created by the laser waveguide probe, to provide a spark electrical discharge through the concretion.

Ultrasound catheter devices and methods provide enhanced disruption of blood vessel obstructions. Generally, ultrasound catheters include an elongate flexible catheter body with one or more lumens, an ultrasound transmission member extending longitudinally through the catheter body lumen and, in some embodiments, a guidewire tube extending through the lumen. A distal head for disrupting occlusions is coupled with the distal end of the ultrasound transmission member and is positioned adjacent the distal end of the catheter body. Some embodiments include improved features such as a bend in the catheter body for enhancing positioning and/or advancement of the catheter.

The invention relates to a lithotripsy device for fragmenting body stones, wherein the lithotripsy device has a hand-held device with an ultrasonic vibration exciter with an ultrasonic vibration exciter outer diameter and a sonotrode with a longitudinal central axis and a sonotrode outer diameter which can be connected to the hand-held device on the distal side, wherein the sonotrode can be excited to a first vibration by means of the ultrasonic vibration exciter, and the lithotripsy device has a vibration excitation element with a through-opening, wherein the vibration excitation element with the through-opening is arranged around the sonotrode outer diameter and/or around the ultrasonic vibration exciter outer diameter, wherein the through-opening of the vibration excitation element has a larger diameter than the sonotrode outer diameter and/or than the ultrasonic vibration exciter outer diameter so that the vibration excitation element is freely movable, and the vibration excitation element has an imbalance so that, in the event of a rotation of the vibration excitation element about the sonotrode and/or the ultrasonic vibration exciter, the sonotrode can be excited to a second vibration by means of the imbalance. Furthermore, the invention relates to a lithotripsy system, a retrofitting kit for retrofitting an existing lithotripsy device, and a method for operating a lithotripsy device.

In some examples, a catheter includes an elongated member including at least one balloon connected to the elongated member, the at least one balloon being configured to inflate to an expanded state. In the expanded state, the at least one balloon forms at least a portion of a cavity with a wall of a vessel of the patient. The catheter including at least one electrode carried by the elongated member and having at least one surface exposed to the cavity formed by the at least one balloon. The electrode is configured to connect to an energy source that is configured to deliver, via the electrode, an electrical signal to a fluid contained in the cavity and in contact with the electrode to cause the fluid to undergo cavitation to generate a pressure pulse wave within the fluid.