Disclosed herein are syringes having temperature modulation capabilities particularly with regard to changing the temperature of the material being ejected from or injected into the syringe and methods of use. In a specific embodiment of this invention, the syringe comprises a phase transition composition which is to be maintained in one phase within the syringe chamber and ejected in a different phase from the syringe.

Neurosurgical apparatus has a guidance device having a guide tube and a neurosurgical instrument for insertion into the guide tube. The inner surface of the guide tube is arranged, for example profiled, to at least partially engage the outer surface of the neurosurgical instrument when inserted therein. The guide tube thus guides the neurosurgical instrument along a predefined path through the guide tube. At least one of the guidance device and the outer surface of the neurosurgical instrument are configured to provide a fluid return path for carrying any fluid displaced from within the guide tube during insertion of the neurosurgical instrument into the guide tube. A seal may also be provided for sealing the fluid return path.

This invention is directed to a medical device having a longitudinal axis, and including a handle and a catheter. The handle can include a body having a proximal end and a distal end, an actuator moveably coupled to the body, and a handle control member coupled to the actuator, wherein the actuator can be configured to move relative to the body to move the handle control member. The catheter can include a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the proximal end of the shaft and the distal end of the body can be configured for releasable coupling. The catheter can also include a steering section located along the shaft and a catheter control member coupled to the steering section, wherein the catheter control member can be configured to move relative to the shaft to move the steering section relative to the longitudinal axis. The medical device can also include a securing member configured to move relative to at least one of the handle and the catheter to releasably couple the handle control member to the catheter control member.

A flexible tube includes an envelope, a spiral tube and a built-in component. The spiral tube includes a first area portion and a second area portion. The spiral tube is under an initial tension throughout the overall length, and the built-in component includes a supplement area portion which supplements the elasticity of the spiral tube.

A medical device system may include a catheter sheath and a catheter shaft sized for delivery through a lumen of the catheter sheath. The catheter shaft may be coupled to an end effector at or adjacent a distal end of the catheter shaft. The catheter shaft may include a lumen and a control element. The control element may be coupled to the end effector and may reside within the lumen of the catheter shaft. Physical access may be provided to the control element, to allow the control element to be severed to facilitate removal of the end effector from a bodily cavity. The control element may include a lumen and a control cable therein. A liquid entry port may be provided in the lumen of the control element toward a distal end of the control element to allow expedited provision of fluid to a distal portion of the control element.

A cannula includes at least one opening at a distal tip, and further includes multiple fenestrations that are maintainable in position substantially immediately or slightly beyond a site or point of cannula entry into a vessel. The fenestrations, in combination with the opening(s) at the cannula's distal tip, enable the simultaneous perfusion of blood into the cannulated vessel along multiple directions, including opposing or anti-parallel blood flow directions relative to a central axis of the cannulated vessel. During a medical procedure (e.g., an extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) procedure) blood introduced into a vessel such as the femoral artery by way of the cannula can thus exit the cannula in a manner that provides concurrent blood flow in a first direction towards the heart and a second direction away from the heart.

A magnetic stylet includes a core element and a distal region. The core element may include a proximal end coupled to a tab, the proximal end having a first diameter, a transition region, and a distal region extending from the transition region to a distal end. The distal region may have a second diameter less than the first diameter. The distal section may include the transition region and the distal region of the core element, a magnetic element, a polymer member, and a closure element. The magnetic element may be positioned distal of the transition region of the core element. The polymer member may be circumferentially disposed about the distal region of the core element, the continuous permanent magnetic element, and at least a portion of the transition region of the core element. The closure element may be an epoxy that forms a rounded end distal of the polymer member.

An expandable mouth for a catheter can be capable of local flow restriction and provide a large mouth opening providing sufficient radial force while having the flexibility to reach and retrieve an occlusive clot. The expandable mouth can have a framework with a collapsed state so the clot retrieval catheter can be compatible low-profile outer catheters and an expanded state for contacting the walls of a vessel and sealing off or restricting proximal flow. The framework can have one or more support arms and distal support hoops which can have narrowed segments, undulations, closed cells, and other flexibility enhancing features. Alternately, the framework can be a mesh having an array of closed cells. The expandable mouth can feature a membrane cover disposed around the supporting framework. These improvements can provide safe and rapid access to complex areas and more reliably remove occlusions while shortening procedure times.

Described herein are devices, methods and kits for assessing and/or enhancing the accessibility of a subvalvular space of a heart, accessing the subvalvular space of the heart (e.g., to provide access for one or more other devices), and/or positioning one or more devices in the subvalvular space of the heart. The devices described herein may, for example, comprise catheters that may be used to manipulate one or more chordae tendineae, diagnostic catheters having different sizes and/or shapes (e.g., different curvatures), guide catheters having different sizes and/or shapes (e.g., different curvatures), and visualization catheters. In some variations, the devices, methods, and/or kits may be used to visualize a target site, such as a subannular groove of a heart valve. In certain variations, the devices, methods, and/or kits may be used to manipulate chordae tendineae to provide additional space in a ventricle of a heart (e.g., enhancing the accessibility of the ventricle).

A catheter has excellent in torque transmission properties to easily process a distal end portion of a catheter shaft to form a side hole, thereby protecting a lead wire that is inserted in a side hole. The catheter includes a shaft, ring-shaped electrodes that are mounted at an outer peripheral surface of a distal end portion of the shaft, and electrode lead wires. The shaft is made up of a braid that is embedded in a tube wall over an entire length of the shaft, side holes are formed in a tube wall of the distal end portion of the shaft, a distal end portion of each lead wire is joined to an inner peripheral surface of each electrode, the lead wires are inserted into the side holes and thus pass through meshes of the braid and enter a lumen of the shaft, and the side holes in which the lead wires are inserted are filled with a resin material.