A medical device for reducing incontinence can be dimensioned to be placed in an interior region of a subject surrounded by muscle tissue. The medical device can include a first balloon having an interior space containing a fluid. The proximal end of a first fluid conduit can be coupled to an outlet of the first balloon. The medical device can also include a pressure sensing detector coupled to a distal end of the first fluid conduit. The pressure sensing detector can include a second balloon. The second balloon can also be in fluid communication with the interior space of the first balloon. The first balloon can be compressed from the contraction of the muscle tissue, which can displace a portion of the fluid within the interior space of the first balloon. The portion of fluid moves towards the second balloon and causes the second balloon to increase in interior volume thereby indicating a contraction force of the muscle tissue.

Devices, systems, and methods for inflation are provided. Inflation devices include a housing, a compressed gas canister disposed therein, a syringe disposed within the housing, a plunger slidably disposed in the syringe having an unloaded position and a loaded position relative to the syringe, a puncture mechanism disposed within the housing and configured to open a fluid path between the compressed gas canister and the syringe, and a positive pressure mechanism disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the syringe. Engagement of the puncture mechanism puts the syringe into fluid communication with the compressed gas canister such that gas contained therein loads into the syringe and the plunger moves from the unloaded position and the loaded position. The positive pressure mechanism is configured to maintain the gas within the syringe at a positive pressure relative to ambient pressure in order to prevent air from entering the syringe after loading.

The invention refers to a device and a method for the dynamically sealing intubation of a hollow organ, comprising or using a tube in the form of a shaft that can be inserted into the hollow organ, with a primary lumen to provide access through or to the hollow organ in question, and comprising an intracorporeal sealing balloon, which surrounds a distal region of the shaft of said tube in the manner of a cuff for the purpose of sealing it against the hollow organ, wherein one or more secondary lumens for filling said intracorporeal sealing balloon are integrated into the wall of at least a proximal region of said shaft, wherein, within each cross-sectional plane that is intersected perpendicularly by the local longitudinal direction of the device, the following applies for the overall interior cross-section Q1 of the primary lumen and the sum Q2 of the interior cross-sections of all secondary lumens:

Q2/(Q1+Q2)≥0.06,

wherein at an extracorporeal filling tube, which communicates with all secondary lumens, a control device is provided in order to keep the pressure within the intracorporeal sealing balloon nearly constant in such a way that a) when the volume of the hollow organ increases, a corresponding amount of the filling medium is forced to flow into the intracorporeal sealing tube in order to increase the volume of the intracorporeal sealing tube accordingly, and b) when the volume of the hollow organ decreases, a corresponding amount of the filling medium is allowed to flow out of the intracorporeal sealing tube in order to decrease the volume of the intracorporeal sealing tube accordingly.

The disclosure includes a balloon guiding sheath including an elongated sheath having a proximal end, a distal end, an inner tube and an outer tube both extending between the proximal end and the distal end, an access port located adjacent the proximal end, a distal port located adjacent the distal end, and a working lumen extending through the elongated sheath between the access port and the distal port. The balloon guiding sheath may include an inflatable balloon located on an outer surface of the elongated sheath adjacent the distal end, and at least one vent hole located between an outer surface of the elongated sheath and an inner surface of the inflatable balloon. The at least one vent hole may be configured to allow media to flow from the inflatable balloon to an external portion outside the balloon guiding sheath.

Disclosed herein is an apparatus for use with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus comprises a catheter and a plurality of compliant balloons extended outside and along the axial direction of the catheter, wherein the catheter comprises a plurality of communicating conduits, each of which is in air or fluid communication with at least one of the plurality of compliant balloons. Also disclosed herein are methods of treating gastrointestinal tumors in a subject with the aid of the present apparatus.

Expandable intubation assemblies and methods for using and making the same are provided.

A safety balloon catheter includes a catheter having a stretch valve, a connector, a balloon inflated with an inflation fluid, a hollow inflation lumen extending through the catheter to the balloon and conveying inflation fluid thereto and therefrom, a hollow second lumen, and a balloon drainage port fluidically connecting the balloon to the second lumen. The stretch valve has a hollow base fixed in the second lumen at a proximal catheter end and shaped to permit a fluid therethrough and a hollow plug slidably positioned in the second lumen at a given distance from the base to, in a steady state, prevent inflation fluid from passing through the drainage port and, when actuated, slide within the second lumen to permit inflation fluid to pass through the drainage port and into the second lumen. The connector connects the base and the plug and has a length greater than the given distance.

An occlusion catheter system for full or partial occlusion of a vessel having a vessel diameter includes a proximal catheter shaft having a proximal lumen and a hypotube positioned partially within the proximal lumen and spaced from the proximal catheter shaft. The catheter system also includes a distal catheter shaft attached to a distal end of the hypotube and an occlusion balloon connected at a proximal end to the proximal catheter shaft and at a distal end to the distal catheter shaft. The occlusion balloon is configured to define flow channels with inner surfaces of the vessel at folds in the occlusion balloon when the occlusion balloon is partially inflated and in engagement with the inner surfaces.

Methods and devices quickly and accurately locate the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) while performing a sphenopalatine ganglion block procedure that introduces a medication to the SPG. The methods and devices also prevent the medication applied to the SPG from flowing down a patient's throat during the procedure.

Disclosed is an endo-urethral catheter for a male subject. The catheter includes a tube and two balloons. The tube includes a lumen extending there along, an opening(s) on a tube distal section, and a valve positioned in the lumen. A first balloon is disposed about the tube distal section proximally to the opening(s). A second balloon is positioned proximally to the first balloon and distally to the valve. The catheter is configured to be deployed in the urinary system such that the first balloon is positioned in the bladder neck, and the second balloon is positioned adjacently and proximally to the urinary sphincter, thereby anchoring the catheter. The valve is configured to be controllably opened and shut, such as to respectively fluidly couple and decouple the bladder to the proximal end of the tube, thereby allowing the subject to controllably expel urine.