A catheter that fits within a blood vessel wall includes electrodes aligned along a longitudinal axis of the catheter that produce unfocused shock waves that propagate radially toward the blood vessel wall for treatment.

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 catheter comprises an elongated carrier and a balloon carried by the carrier in sealed relation thereto. The balloon has an outer surface and is arranged to receive a fluid therein that inflates the balloon. The catheter further comprises a shock wave generator within the balloon that forms mechanical shock waves within the balloon, and a medicinal agent carried on the outer surface of the balloon. The medicinal agent is releasable from the balloon either before or in response to the shock wave.

A medical device may include an elongated body, a balloon positioned at a distal portion of the elongated body, and one or more pressure-wave emitters positioned along a central longitudinal axis of the elongated body within the balloon. The one or more pressure-wave emitters may be configured to propagate pressure waves radially outward through the fluid to fragment a calcified lesion at the target treatment site. The at least one of the one or more pressure-wave emitters may include an electronic emitter comprising a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode may be arranged to define a spark gap between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the second electrode may comprise a portion of a hypotube.

A catheter that fits within a blood vessel wall includes electrodes aligned along a longitudinal axis of the catheter that produce unfocused shock waves that propagate radially toward the blood vessel wall for treatment.

The present invention provides a catheter for treating occlusions in body lumens. The catheter includes a catheter body that is fillable with fluid. An impactor is connected to the distal end of the catheter body and has a proximal end inside the catheter body and a distal end outside the catheter body. The catheter also includes a shock wave source configured to generate a shock wave, and a deflector coupled to the proximal end of the impactor in between the shock wave source and distal end of the catheter body. When the shock wave source generates a shock wave, the shock wave impinges on the deflector causing the deflector to advance in a forward direction in conjunction with the impactor such that the distal end of the impactor delivers a mechanical force to the occlusion to restore flow to the body lumen.

A method for conducting intrabody surgery by means of a surgical device having a cutting arrangement actuated by a driveshaft and rotationally supported by the guide wire. A receiving cannel extends through the cutting arrangement and movably receives the guidewire. A plurality of sensors is provided within the cutting arrangement to emit signals capable of changing parameters depending on the composition of the occlusion, so as to allow the control unit to generate signals controlling operation of the cutting arrangement. The method includes the steps of detecting parameters within the intrabody area by the sensors to controlling operation of the cutting arrangement with the power and control unit.

A medical device may include an elongated body, a balloon positioned at a distal portion of the elongated body, and one or more pressure-wave emitters positioned along a central longitudinal axis of the elongated body within the balloon. The one or more pressure-wave emitters may be configured to propagate pressure waves radially outward through the fluid to fragment a calcified lesion at the target treatment site. The at least one of the one or more pressure-wave emitters may include an electronic emitter comprising a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode may be arranged to define a spark gap between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the second electrode may comprise a portion of a hypotube.

An intracorporeal pressure shock wave includes an expandable pressure shock wave reflector at the distal end of an intracorporeal catheter to direct shock waves from a shock wave generator within a human or animal blood vessel or body lumen.

A cardiac ablation method including the following steps: inserting a treatment catheter into an atrium of a heart, the treatment catheter including an ultrasound emitter; positioning the ultrasound emitter to face heart tissue within the left atrium outside of a pulmonary vein; emitting ultrasound energy from the ultrasound emitter while rotating the ultrasound emitter about a rotation axis; and ablating heart tissue with the ultrasound energy to form a lesion outside of a pulmonary vein.