A vapor delivery system is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the vapor delivery system is that it can apply condensable vapor energy to tissue, such as a prostrate, to shrink, damage, or denature the prostate. In some embodiments, the vapor delivery system can include safety features including prostate capsule detection, needle tracking, and treatment tracking. Methods for safe and effective treatment of prostate tissues are presented.

A catheter-based device for determining the radial expansion force required to displace an occlusion in a vessel located in a subject. The device comprises an elongate body defining proximal and distal termini. The body comprises a sheath that encloses a hollow lumen within, which extends along substantially the full length of the body. The proximal terminal region of the body comprises: a user-interfacing hub, the hub comprising a handle for maneuvering the body and configured for handling by an operator; a control interface for controlling the device; and a sensor configured to measure one or more parameters relevant to a force applied to the vessel by the device. The distal terminal region of the body comprises an expandable member movable between a retracted position, in which the expandable member is within the hollow lumen, and a deployed position, in which the expandable member is disposed beyond the distal terminus, and controllable via the control interface to expand radially. The expansion of the expandable member is correlated to a defined radial expansion force value.

An apparatus includes an occlusion device operable to fit securely in an anatomical passageway within a head of a human. The occlusion device is configured to move unitarily with the head when the occlusion device is installed in the anatomical passageway. The occlusion device is further configured to prevent passage of fluid through the anatomical passageway when the occlusion device is installed in the anatomical passageway. A position sensor is fixedly integrated into the occlusion device. The position sensor generates signals indicating a position of the occlusion device in three-dimensional space, thereby indicating the position of the head in three-dimensional space. A connector communicatively coupled to the position sensor is operable to receive and transmit the signals generated by the position sensor.

Devices, systems, and methods for catheterization through angionavigation, cardionavigation, or brain navigation to diagnose or treat diseased areas through direct imaging using tracking, such as radiofrequency, infrared, or ultrasound tracking, of the catheter through the patient's vascular anatomy. A steerable catheter with six degrees of freedom having at least a camera and fiber optic bundle, and one or more active or passive electromagnetic tracking sensors located on the catheter is guided through the vascular system under direct imaging. The direct imaging can be assisted with at least one of MRA imaging, CT angiography imaging, or 3DRA imaging as the roadmap acquired prior to or during 3D stereoangiovision. The system comprises RF transceivers to provide positioning information from the sensors, a processor executing navigation software to fuse the tracking information from the tracking sensors with the imaging roadmap, and a display to display the location of the catheter on the roadmap.

Electrical field-guided positioning of a second device within a body cavity, using electrical field mapping information generated from electrical field measurements by electrodes of a first device. The first device, in some embodiments, is a catheter electrode probe, and the second device is an internally implantable and/or operated medical device. An exposed, electrically conductive portion of the second device is optionally configured to be used as an electrical field measuring electrode. A rule is applied to measurements made by this electrode to estimate its position within a body cavity. The rule is generated, in some embodiments, using measurements made by the first device. In some embodiments, electrical measurements are used to guide implantation verification. In some embodiments, electrical measurements are used to guide navigation at and through a septal wall between body cavities.

In various examples, a medical device is configured to be at least partially insertable within a patient. The medical device includes a first elongate member including a sidewall surrounding and defining a lumen extending through the first elongate member between a first proximal end and a first distal end. A second elongate member is sized and shaped to fit within the lumen of the first elongate member. A coil is disposed within the sidewall of the first elongate member, wherein the coil is configured to sense a position of the second elongate member with respect to the coil. In some examples, the first elongate member includes a catheter, and the second elongate member includes a guidewire.

A cannula has an electrically conductive material that runs along the cannula. This material has an electrical terminal, which can be wired or wirelessly connected with a measuring device. This makes it possible to acquire the position of the cannula in a human body, and generate a warning signal given a dislocation of the cannula.

This document relates to the apparatus and methods used in the minimally invasive creation of arteriovenous fistula (AVF). In particular, the invention relates to the creation of an AVF using catheters and an alignment methodology that is based upon detection of asymmetric electric fields. The invention finds particular application in vascular access (VA) in the hemodialysis (HD) population.

Devices for transferring fluid to or from a subject include a plunger assembly coupled to or coupleable to a cannula assembly to allow target fluid to be “front-loaded” into a distal end of the cannula assembly while the stylet is withdrawn a distance to create a vacuum and define a flow channel.

Embodiments of the present invention provide for maintaining a level set of a pulmonary artery catheterization apparatus that includes a pulmonary artery pressure sensor in communication with a pulmonary artery catherization manifold affixed to a pulmonary artery catheter. The method includes calibrating leveling of the pulmonary artery pressure sensor (at the level of the right atrium) with the pulmonary artery catheterization manifold by recording a vertical level of a leveling base positioned at a common level to the manifold, relative to a vertical level of a leveling sensor positioned at a common level to the pulmonary artery pressure sensor. The method further includes monitoring a difference between the recorded vertical level of the leveling base relative to the vertical level of the leveling sensor. Finally, the method includes generating an alert in a user interface element of the leveling sensor in response to the monitored difference exceeding a threshold value.