A catheter comprises a hollow sheath, a guidewire extendable through the hollow sheath, where the guidewire comprises a controllably bendable tip portion, a hollow tubular intermediate portion connected to the tip portion, an electrical connection portion connected to the hollow tubular portion, at least a first wire extending through the hollow tubular portion and connected at a first end thereof to a first circumferential conductor and at a second end thereof to a surface of the tip end, and a power supply connector, therein the electrical connection portion is received in the power supply connector and a first terminal in the power supply connector contacts the first circumferential conductor.

An insertion and retraction device is described for delivery and removal of a microparticle from target tissue. The device comprises a magnetic or magnetizable needle or cannula having a distal end, a proximal end and a lumen adapted to convey microparticles; a tubular catheter receiving the needle or cannula; a pressure device adapted for delivery of microparticles through the needle or cannula lumen by pressure; a magnetic field modulator adapted to move the needle or cannula by modulation of a magnetic field; and a magnetic sensor positioned toward the distal end of the tubular catheter responsive to a magnetic moment of the microparticle.

The present invention relates to a magnetic navigation-guided tear-away sheath for cardiac conduction bundle pacing, including a sheath body and a joint fixedly connected to a rear end of the sheath body. The sheath body includes a front flexible section and a rear fixed section, and the front flexible section is freely bendable. An outer surface near a head end of the front flexible section is provided with a plurality of pairs of half-ring magnets, two half-ring magnets in each pair of half-ring magnets are symmetrically disposed and form a ring, and a gap is kept between the two half-ring magnets. The head end of the front flexible section is provided with three electrodes uniformly disposed in a circumferential direction, and the three electrodes can be freely combined two by two, to form three electrode pairs used to record and position an intracardiac potential.

The disclosure provides a flexible, narrow medical device (such as a micro-catheter or a guidewire) that is controllably moved and steered through lumens of a body. The medical device may include an electrically-actuatable bendable portion at a distal end, which may be provided by a polymer electrolyte layer, electrodes distributed about the polymer electrolyte layer, and electrical conduits coupled to the electrodes, such that the polymer electrolyte layer deforms asymmetrically in response to an electrical signal through one or more conduits. The disclosure further includes a controller for moving the device into and out of bodily lumens and for applying the electrical signal for steering the device. The device further includes methods of preparing the polymer electrolyte layer in tubular shape.

Systems and methods for confirming the tip location of a static endovascular device are disclosed. The system can include an ivECG acquisition module for receiving ECG data from an implanted endovascular device and a notification module. The system can calculate PI and distance parameters to determine the location of the tip of the implanted endovascular device relative to a predetermined location such as the cavoatrial junction. The system can use chaos theory and the concept of self-organized criticality (SOC) to determine parameters where P-waves are absent or atypical. The notification module can include one or more of an audio signal, a video signal, and a tactile signal. Also disclosed are systems and methods of establishing an electrical pathway within a previously positioned, endovascular device, including saline columns and electrically conductive guidewires.

A medical system including a catheter containing a mechanical system that is remotely operable uses a sensor to at least partly measure a pose of the catheter and a control system coupled to the mechanical system. The control system has multiple operating modes including one or more holding modes in which the control system operates the mechanical system to maintain a working configuration of the catheter based on feedback from the sensor.

A dilation instrument and method of imaging an anatomy within a patient includes a dilation catheter having a catheter body, a fluid conduit extending along the catheter body, a dilator, and at least one ultrasonic transducer. The catheter body is configured to distally extend from an instrument body and move relative to the instrument body. The dilator is connected to the catheter body in fluid communication with the fluid conduit and configured to receive a fluid from the fluid conduit and thereby inflate from a contracted state to an expanded state. The at least one ultrasonic transducer positioned on the catheter body and configured to electrically connect to an ultrasonic generator. The at least one ultrasonic transducer is configured to emit a source ultrasonic signal toward an anatomy within a patient for producing a diagnostic or a therapeutic effect.

Systems and methods for providing a reinforced cannula for use in a blood pump assembly. The reinforced cannula comprises one or more thermoformed reinforced end portions. The thermoformed reinforced end portions may be stiffer than a medial portion of the cannula, allowing the medial portion of the cannula body to stretch and bend more readily than the cannula ends when the cannula is subject to an applied stress, reducing the stress and strain on the cannula ends.

The present invention relates to an elongate, flexible, medical device comprising: an elongate, flexible inner member; a support member extending around the inner member; a plurality of electrically-conductive wires, each being braided with the support member; an outer member; and at least one ionic electroactive polymer actuator, the actuator comprising: at least one polymer electrolyte layer secured adjacent to the distal end of the inner member; and a plurality of electrodes circumferentially distributed about the exterior surface of the at least one polymer electrolyte layer, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrically-conductive wires, adjacent to the distal end thereof, is electrically connected to one of the electrodes, and the at least one polymer electrolyte layer is configured to deform asymmetrically in response to the application of an electrical signal through at least one of the plurality of electrically-conductive wires to at least one of the plurality of electrodes.

A steerable medical catheter includes a tubular body having a longitudinal axis and a distal portion for insertion into a subject, a first pull wire, a second pull wire, and a piezoelectric transducer. The piezoelectric transducer includes a first electrode and a second electrode. At the distal portion of the catheter the first pull wire and the second pull wire are each mechanically coupled to the tubular body at respective first and second offset positions with respect to the longitudinal axis for imparting a curvature on the distal portion of the catheter. At the distal portion of the catheter the first pull wire is electrically connected to the first electrode of the piezoelectric transducer and the second pull wire is electrically connected to the second electrode of the piezoelectric transducer.