An access device for placing a medical article within a body space includes a syringe, a needle, and a sheath which are employed together with a guide wire. The sheath can be coaxially and slideably disposed about the needle. During insertion of the sheath over the needle, guide wire and into the body space, the syringe provides a negative pressure to ensure that any air located between the inside diameter of the sheath and the outside diameter of the needle is drawn into the needle rather than into the body space. In certain embodiments, a dilator is coaxially and slideably disposed about the needle and within the sheath.

An expandable medical sheath can include a sheath body having a lumen that extends between proximal and distal ends of the sheath. The sheath can have first and second members where the first member has a different elastic modulus than the second member such that one provides elasticity to the sheath and the other provides column strength. The first and second members can be coupled together in alternating sections to form the tubular sheath or the stiffer members can be embedded in the elastic member along all or a portion of the longitudinal length of the sheath. The sheath can automatically move to an expanded state to allow a larger diameter medical device to pass through the lumen, and once through the sheath can automatically return to its initial diameter.

A catheter assembly includes: a catheter; a catheter hub connected to the catheter; an inner needle removably disposed in the catheter; a needle hub connected to the inner needle; and a deflection suppressing member that suppresses deflection of the inner needle by supporting the inner needle via the catheter at a location distal of the catheter hub. The deflection suppressing member is supported so as to be movable relative to the needle hub in an axial direction.

Disclosed is an arterial access sheath for introducing an interventional device into an artery. The arterial access sheath includes an elongated body sized and shaped to be transcervically introduced into a common carotid artery at an access location in the neck and an internal lumen in the elongated body having a proximal opening in a proximal region of the elongated body and a distal opening in a distal region of the elongated body. The internal lumen provides a passageway for introducing an interventional device into the common carotid artery when the elongated body is positioned in the common carotid artery. The elongated body has a proximal section and a distalmost section that is more flexible than the proximal section. A ratio of an entire length of the distalmost section to an overall length of the sheath body is one tenth to one half the overall length of the sheath body.

The present disclosure provides a catheter system and methods for use that includes (a) a first catheter having a first end and a second end, where the first catheter has a first diameter, (b) a second catheter having a first end and a second end, where the second catheter has a second diameter that is less than the first diameter of the first catheter, and where the second catheter is positioned at least partially within a lumen of the first catheter and is moveable relative to the first catheter, and (c) a wire having a first end and a second end, where the first end of the wire is coupled to the second catheter.

Apparatus and systems are disclosed that incorporate coupling mechanisms to enable coupling of two mating member such as medical devices such as introducers, sheaths, dilators. More specifically, the disclosure relates to releasable coupling mechanisms, to allow for releasable coupling of two medical devices such as a dilator and a sheath so the devices can be maneuvered and/or manipulated together for example during a part of a medical procedure.

System for monitoring and regulating plant productivity comprising: a memory for storing instructions; a processor for executing the instructions to cause a method of monitoring and regulating plant productivity to be performed, the method comprising: receiving field data from monitoring sensors; computing, by the at least one processor executing a machine learning algorithm, a predicted value for a variable associated with the production environment condition of a crop field, the machine learning algorithm having been trained based on a training set comprising one or both of (a) the field data from the monitoring sensors, and (b) a generated feature derived from the field data; and determining, based on a threshold associated with the variable, that the predicted value for the variable indicates that an intervention in the crop field is to be initiated; and in response to the determining, causing a controllable device to vary the production environment condition.

An expandable introducer sheath with an interlock dilator. The present technology provides an expandable sheath with a step feature inside its distal opening, and a dilator with an interlock that includes a catch surface that is configured to engage with the step feature of the expandable sheath. When the step feature engages the catch surface, it resists further relative movement so that the body of the dilator is prevented from exiting the distal end of the expandable sheath. The nature of the interlocking engagement between the step feature and the catch surface allows the dilator to be used to extend and maintain tension on the expandable sheath during insertion into a patient, and then to be retracted from the expandable sheath by simply pulling the dilator in the opposite direction. The present technology also provides a dilator hub with a spring mechanism configured to achieve and maintain a desired tension on the expandable sheath and to prevent overextension of the expandable sheath when the dilator is being inserted into the expandable sheath.

A catheter has a cannulated guiding rail extending therethrough, an advance segment of the rail extending at least about 10 cm beyond the distal end of the catheter. The catheter and rail are advanced over a guidewire until the distal end of the advance segment is at a target vascular site. The catheter is thereafter advanced along the rail to the target vascular site.

Intravenous access is achieved by introducing a catheter over an access needle which is initially present in the catheter. A tapered dilating element is positioned over the needle and provides a transition between the needle and a larger catheter lumen. The access needle is hollow and has a port which allows blood to flash back through a lumen of the catheter so that flashback can be observed on a catheter hub or the catheter itself