A device for fracturing calcifications in heart valves includes a stabilizer and an impactor movable towards each other. The impactor includes one or more impactor arms, each of which extends distally from a proximal cap. The impactor further includes one or more lever arms each of which is distally coupled to a lever cap and proximally coupled to a corresponding one of the one or more impactor arms. The lever cap slides on a shaft which extends towards the proximal cap. Proximal movement of the lever cap towards the proximal cap causes the one or more lever arms to deform and to push against the one or more impactor arms and to cause the one or more impactor arms to deform.

An adapter for a medical device catheter includes a proximal portion and a distal portion, at least two electrodes positioned to create an electrode gap between the electrodes, an attachment mechanism configured to secure the adapter to a distal end of a medical device catheter, and an electrical connector at the proximal portion and in electrical communication with the electrodes.

An apparatus includes a balloon adapted to be placed adjacent a calcified region of a body. The balloon is inflatable with a liquid. The apparatus further includes a shock wave generator within the balloon that produces shock waves that propagate through the liquid for impinging upon the calcified region adjacent the balloon. The shock wave generator includes a plurality of shock wave sources distributed within the balloon.

A papillotome for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy including a front opening located in a free end region of a catheter and at the outlet of a first lumen, a rear opening further from a free end than the front opening and connects the first lumen to the outside, and a cutting wire located in the first lumen in an axially displaceable manner and extends through the front opening and the rear opening and is located on the outside between the front opening and the rear opening. When the cutting wire is tensioned, the free end region is deformed in an arc shape and the cutting wire forms a transversely extending cutting edge between the front opening and the rear opening. The front opening is arranged at a distance of at least 3 mm from the free end. A projection is formed between the free end and the front opening. A cutting tip is formed at the free end of the catheter. The cutting tip is connected to the cutting wire and forms the foremost end of the papillotome.

An elongate endovascular element for crossing through an obstruction in a blood vessel comprises: a proximal section; a distal tip section of smaller diameter than the proximal section; and a distally-tapering intermediate section extending between the proximal and distal tip sections; wherein the tapered intermediate section has a length that is substantially λ/2 or a multiple of λ/2, where λ is a wavelength of a driving frequency that will produce longitudinal resonance in the element.

A medical assembly includes an expandable-mouth catheter and an introducer tool configured to facilitate advancement of the catheter into a delivery sheath. In some examples, a distal-most portion of the introducer tool includes a plurality of axial extensions separated by triangular-shaped slits. When the catheter is received within the introducer tool and when the introducer tool is received within a tapered portion of the delivery sheath, the axial extensions are configured to collapse radially inward to radially compress the expandable member and to enable the introducer to extend farther into the delivery sheath.

Example systems and methods of treatment are presented herein which generally involve expanding a bracing frame within a blood vessel between a clot and an aspiration catheter, aspirating the clot through a passageway of the bracing frame, and supporting the blood vessel by the bracing frame as negative pressure is created by the aspiration. The bracing frame can thereby reduce likelihood of blood vessel collapse compared to a similar procedure which does not include the bracing frame. The bracing frame can be removed from the blood vessel during treatment. In some examples, the bracing frame can further function to expand a mouth of the catheter. In some examples, the system can include a stentriever.

In a multiple-lumen catheter having multiple guidewires for treatment of vascular blockages, the catheter comprising a proximal-end assembly, a distal-end portion and a multi-lumen medial portion therebetween, the improvement wherein: (1) the multiple guidewires are preloaded in the catheter, each guidewire in its own single-guidewire lumen extending from its own guidewire entry port in the proximal-end assembly to a lumen convergence portion; and (2) the distal-end portion includes: (a) the lumen convergence portion along which the multiple lumens merge into a single output lumen sized to match the largest-diameter lumen of the multiple lumens, (b) an intermediate distal-end section connected to the lumen convergence portion and surrounding the single output lumen continuing therethrough, and (c) a tapered tip surrounding the single output lumen continuing therethrough.

In a multiple-lumen catheter having multiple guidewires for treatment of vascular blockages, the catheter comprising a proximal-end assembly, a distal-end portion and a multi-lumen medial portion therebetween, the improvement wherein: (1) the multiple guidewires are preloaded in the catheter, each guidewire in its own single-guidewire lumen extending from its own guidewire entry port in the proximal-end assembly to a lumen convergence portion; and (2) the distal-end portion includes: (a) the lumen convergence portion along which the multiple lumens merge into a single output lumen sized to match the largest-diameter lumen of the multiple lumens, (b) an intermediate distal-end section connected to the lumen convergence portion and surrounding the single output lumen continuing therethrough, and (c) a tapered tip surrounding the single output lumen continuing therethrough.

An infusion filter design combines a fluid infusion device and a blood filtration device that filter blood during a thrombolysis procedure while allowing for complete filter removal on procedure completion. In one embodiment, a wire comprises a proximal, non-infusible length that extends partially outside of the patient and within the vein. The wire further comprises an infusible length distally from the non-infusible length that is extends within the vein so as to be placed at the section of the vein requiring medication. The wire also comprises a distal filter component at a distal end of the wire that is employed to filter the blood in the event that during the period that clot is dissolved it migrates toward the central circulation.