Scimed Life Systems, Inc.

Stereotaxis, Inc.

Brooke Qin Ren

Roger Noel Hastings

Bevil J Hogg

Jeffrey M Garibaldi

Zihong Guo

Verivada C Chandrasekaran

Byron Fedie

Brent C Gerberding

Jon St Germain

Tracee E J Eidenschink

Richard G Cornelius

Scott A Olson

Christopher R Larson

Gregory Alan Boldenow

James E Cox

Jeffrey J Peters

Paul Miller

A balloon angioplasty catheter having a balloon head assembly carried at the distal end of an elongated catheter body. The balloon head assembly includes an inflatable balloon envelope and a perfusion lumen extending through the balloon envelope to provide a blood flow passage during inflation of the balloon envelope. The invention also encompasses embodiments having a collapsible guidewire lumen for increasing perfusion blood flow upon guidewire withdrawal. Also within the scope of the invention is a distally stepped down perfusion catheter, allowing for decreased distal cross section. In another preferred embodiment, the perfusion lumen is inflatable. In yet another embodiment, the guidewire lumen is external to the perfusion lumen.

Perfusion balloon angioplasty catheter

A system for recanalizing an occluded blood vessel including a centering catheter employed to center an ablative guide wire within the blood vessel as the guide wire traverses the occlusion. The centering catheter includes a catheter body with an operative lumen through which the ablative guide wire is slidingly disposed. The centering catheter further includes a distally disposed centering mechanism that, when activated, centers the ablative guide wire within the blood vessel as it traverses the occlusion. The centering mechanism can comprise various embodiments including a single inflatable balloon or segmented inflatable balloon, which is in fluid communication with an inflation lumen. An airless preparation lumen may be disposed within the inflation lumen for ease of centering catheter preparation. The ablative guide wire includes insulation that is preferably formed of heat shrink tubing, which is stretched prior or concurrently with the heating process. The ablative guide wire includes a distal ablation tip having a non-traumatic structure and at least one discontinuous feature for creating high current densities for more efficient tissue ablation.

Guide wire system for RF recanalization of vascular blockages

The inventive method requires advancing a three-dimensional imaging balloon catheter to the site of a lesion to be imaged, inflating or molding the balloon to image the lesion, deflating the balloon, withdrawing the catheter from the body lumen and re-inflating the balloon which reassumes its memorized shape. Stress and thermal mapping of the balloon is then done by direct observation or by numerical analysis of the material strain and color of the re-inflated 3D imaging balloon.

Thermal and stress mapping of body lumens

A method of and apparatus for treating vascular defects. A catheter having a selectively energizeable coil on its distal end. The catheter is particularly adapted for the delivery of magnetic embolic materials. The coil can be energized to aid in the magnetic navigation of the catheter, to help retain magnetic material in the catheter, to draw ejected magnetic material back into the catheter. A catheter can also be used to deliver a magnetic patch that can be magnetically applied to a vascular defect such as an aneurysm.

Methods of and apparatus for treating vascular defects

Embolic compositions for treating vascular defects such as aneurysms include a mixture of a biocompatible polymer material, a biocompatible solvent, and preferably also an adhesive. The compositions preferably further comprise magnetic particles for controlling the delivery of the embolic agent. These magnetic particles preferably lose magnet strength over time, so that they do not interfere with subsequent magnetic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The compositions preferably also include radiopaque particles, which may be the magnetic particles, to facilitate imaging the embolic material.

Methods of and compositions for treating vascular defects

A stent delivery system which includes a catheter having a radially expandable stent coaxially arranged near a distal end of the catheter. The catheter is equipped with at least one stent securement hub disposed about a portion of the distal end of the catheter underlying the stent. Each of the at least one stent securement hubs being made of a radiopaque polymer.

Radiopaque marker bands

A magnetic embolic agent for magnetic placement in a vascular defect includes a bicompatible polymer, a solvent, an adhesive, and magnetic particles.

The present invention provides a device and method for retrieving a balloon expandable stent which has been misplaced. It utilizes a balloon catheter which is sized to fit into the inside diameter of a stent to be retrieved. The stent has proximal and distal ends and a predefined expansion force threshold which must be exceeded in order to radially expand the stent. The balloon has proximal and distal ends, a greater axial length than the stent to be retrieved, and is made of a compliant material which will deform at less than the predefined expansion force threshold of the stent.

Stent retrieval device

A catheter tube having improved strength and lubricity. The catheter tube can be used advantageously as a guide wire tube for small profile intravascular catheters. The tube can be formed by extruding a mixture of thermoplastic polymeric material, hard particles, lubricating particles, and a lubricant. The lubricant is preferably an external lubricant capable of forming a film over the tube surfaces. One tube is formed of polyamide, molybdenum disulfide particles, PTFE particles, and zinc stearate. Applicants believe the hard disulfide particles and lubricating PTFE particles protrude from the tubular surfaces and are coated with a film of lubricating zinc stearate. The film is believed to reduce the friction and resulting PTFE elongation caused by a guide wire sliding over the PTFE protrusions.

Lubricious surface extruded tubular members for medical devices

A multi-layer catheter tube section providing gradually increasing flexibility. One catheter tube section has a first, inner layer formed of a flexible material and a second, outer layer formed of a stiffer material. The outer layer tapers distally, having decreasing layer thickness with increasing distal position. The decreasing wall thickness provides a decreasing stiffness contribution which imparts increasing flexibility to the catheter portions having a smaller outer layer. The tube sections can be joined end to end to form longer catheter regions having a greater number of gradual flexibility changes.

Semi-continuous co-extruded catheter shaft

A device and method for retrieving partially deployed balloon expandable stents. The device addresses, inter alia, the problem of retrieving stents that have become dislodged from the desired position about a deploying balloon, leaving a stent that is likely too large to be retracted back into a guide catheter. The device can be used with a guide catheter having a balloon angioplasty catheter inserted within. The invention includes a grasping device at the distal end of a shaft and a mechanism for opening and closing the grasping device. In one embodiment, the grasping device includes a reinforced tube having a bound outer inflatable sleeve and a longitudinal slit. In use, the tube can be slipped over the proximal portion of a balloon catheter shaft extending from a patient, advanced over the shaft, through and distally out of a guide catheter, there inflated to grasp the stent distal end, and retracted proximally into the guide catheter. In another embodiment, the grasping device includes fingers attached distally to an inner shaft and proximally to an outer shaft. The fingers open when sliding the inner shaft distally relative to the outer shaft. The fingers close when sliding the inner shaft proximally relative to the outer shaft. This embodiment can be used with a guide catheter to grasp a stent and withdraw it through the guide catheter.

The present invention provides a balloon catheter with a length compensator, which can be an accordion section or a slipping sleeve section. In the accordion section embodiment of the invention, the outer shaft of the catheter includes an accordion section positioned proximally of the balloon. In this embodiment the length compensator is comprised of the accordion section and the outer shaft between the accordion section and the point where the proximal end of the balloon is attached to the outer shaft. The distal end of the balloon is attached to an inner shaft. As the balloon is inflated the accordion section expands to adjust the axial length of the length compensator to compensate for the movement of the two ends of the balloon towards each other. In the slipping sleeve embodiment of the invention, the inner shaft of the catheter includes a slipping sleeve section positioned proximally of the point where the distal end of the balloon is connected to the inner shaft. As the balloon is expanded, the slipping sleeve section contracts, adjusting the axial length of the length compensator to compensate for the shrinkage of the balloon as it expands into contact with the vasculature.

Balloon catheter with adjustable shaft

A medical system is disclosed which includes an over-the-wire type balloon catheter and a guide wire wherein the catheter includes a polymer outer tube, and an inner tube having a metallic proximal portion and a polymer distal portion. An inflatable balloon is connected to the distal ends of the inner tube and the outer tube. The guide wire may be removed from and inserted into the guide wire lumen at either end of the catheter. The catheter may further include a transition member traversing the junction between the proximal and distal portions of the inner tube. The transition member may be in the form of a wire, a coil or a tube, and may be made of cold drawn stainless steel or a superelastic alloy. The metallic proximal portion of the inner tube may have a wall thickness greater than or equal to 0.0020 inches and an outside diameter less than or equal to 0.0255 inches. The catheter may also include a radiopaque marker band swaged onto the inner tube. A method of manufacturing a balloon catheter is also disclosed which includes the steps of: (1) placing a support member inside a tubular member; (2) sliding a balloon over the tubular member such that the bonding region on the tubular member is aligned with a bonding region on the balloon; (3) placing a heat shrinkable tube over the balloon aligned with the bonding regions; (4) exposing the heat shrinkable tube and the bonding regions to heat (e.g. infrared) such that the heat shrinkable tube exerts a compressive force onto the balloon, the bonding regions flow, the balloon bonding region is radially compressed onto the tubular member bonding region, and the bonding regions form a tip which is tapered in a distal direction. A heat shield may be used to expose only the bonding regions and the heat shrinkable tube. An adhesive (e.g. urethane) or a tie polymer may be applied to either of the bonding regions.

Growing community of inventors

Champlin, MN, United States of America

Brooke Qin Ren