A catheter system for pressure wave and inertial impulse generation for intravascular lesion disruption at a treatment site includes a catheter including an elongate shaft and balloon coupled to the elongate shaft. The catheter system includes a light guide disposed along the elongate shaft and at least partially within the balloon, where the light guide is in optical communication with a light source and a balloon fluid. The catheter can include a first focusing element located at a distal portion of the light guide and in optical communication with the light source. The first focusing element can direct light from within the light guide to a first location at a first distance away from the distal portion of the light guide to initiate plasma formation in the balloon fluid away from the distal portion and to cause rapid bubble formation, thereby imparting pressure waves at the treatment site.

Methods and apparatuses for treating a root canal in a tooth or hard and/or soft tissue within a tooth and surrounding tissues by pulsing a laser light into a reservoir, preferably after introducing liquid fluid into the reservoir, so as to disintegrate, separate, or otherwise neutralize pulp, plaque, calculus, and/or bacteria within and adjacent the fluid reservoir without elevating the temperature of any of the dentin, tooth, bones, gums, other soft tissues, other hard tissues, and any other adjacent tissue more than about 5 C.

A method treating a root canal in a tooth by introducing into the pulp chamber of a tooth and pulsing a laser light into the fluid reservoir so as to disintegrate pulp within the root canal without generation of any significant heat in said liquid fluid so as to avoid elevating the temperature of any of the dentin, tooth, or other adjacent tissue more than about 5 C.

A method includes providing a lithotripsic device configured to break a stone into one or more fragments in a body lumen and an endoscope which is configured to obtain a captured image in the body lumen. The method further includes processing the captured image and creating a processed image for display on a monitor, and processing and displaying a track of a movement of at least one of the stone or the one or more fragments.

A catheter system (100) for treating a treatment site (106) includes an energy source (124), a catheter fluid (132), and an emitter assembly (129). The emitter assembly (129) includes (i) at least a portion of an energy guide (122A) having a guide distal end (122D) that is positioned near the treatment site (106), (ii) a plasma generator (133), and (iii) an emitter housing (260) that is secured to the energy guide (122A) and the plasma generator (133). The emitter housing (260) includes (a) a first housing section (262) that is secured to the energy guide (122A) at or near the guide distal end (122D), (b) a second housing section (264) that is one of secured to and integrally formed with the plasma generator (133), and (c) a connector section (266) that is coupled to and extends between the first housing section (262) and the second housing section (264). The first housing section (262) includes a housing gap (368) that extends substantially along a length of the first housing section (262), the first housing section (262) being configured to expand and contract due to changes in environmental conditions.

The present disclosure relates generally to the use of medical devices for the treatment of vascular conditions. In particular, the present disclosure provides devices and methods for using laser-induced pressure waves created within a sheath to disrupt intimal and medial calcium within the vasculature. The present disclosure also provides treatment mode selection systems that may be used with such devices and methods.

Apparatus for the treatment of a target tissue with a laser beam in which the target tissue is immersed in a liquid medium within a body lumen. The laser device is configured to provide one or more laser pulses which are configured by a controller to have an energy sufficient to form one or more vapor bubbles in the liquid medium at the distal delivery end of the fiber. The one or more pulses are configured by the controller to: first, cause a vapor bubble to be formed distally of the distal end portion of the endoscope and around the distal delivery end of the optical fiber; second, cause a second bubble to be formed distally of the first bubble; and, third, inflate the second bubble as the first bubble has begun to collapse to expand an amount sufficient to displace a substantial portion of the liquid medium from the space between the distal delivery end of the fiber and the target tissue.

A catheter system for treating stenosis in a body lumen includes a first energy source, a second energy source, and a catheter. The catheter includes an elongate member that is navigable through the body lumen, a first acoustic energy emitter connected to the first energy source and configured to emit acoustic energy when energy is received from the first energy source, and a second acoustic energy emitter connected to the second energy source and configured to emit acoustic energy when energy is received from the second energy source.

A dental irrigation system is provided with a laser source for generating a laser beam and an optical delivery system for the laser beam. The laser beam wavelength ranges from 0.4 m to 11.0 m. The laser system operates in pulsed operation with pulse sets of 2 to 20 individual pulses of temporally limited pulse length. The pulse sets follow one another with temporal separation. The individual pulses follow one another with pulse repetition rate. The laser system generates at least one vapor bubble within the liquid irradiated with the laser beam. A single pulse causes the vapor bubble to oscillate between a maximal and a minimal volume with a bubble oscillation frequency. The pulse repetition rate within one pulse set is adjusted relative to the bubble oscillation frequency such that synchronization between delivery of the pulses and bubble oscillation is achieved.

The application relates to a cleaning system configured for cleaning of cavities filled with a liquid, including fragmentation, debridement, material removal, irrigation, disinfection, and decontamination. The cleaning system includes an electromagnetic radiation system and a liquid. A treatment handpiece irradiates the liquid within a cavity with a radiation beam, producing a first vapor bubble using first pulse, and, at a different location, a second vapor bubble using a second pulse. The pulse repetition time is adjusted to ensure efficacy, for example such that an onset time of the second vapor bubble is within the first contraction phase of the first vapor bubble, when the first vapor bubble has contracted from its maximal volume to a size in a range from about 0.7 to about 0.1 of the maximal volume.