Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090182278 | EXPANDABLE GUIDE SHEATH AND APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR USING SUCH SHEATHS - Apparatus and methods are provided for accessing body lumens and/or for delivering instruments into body lumens, e.g., vessels within a patient's vasculature. A flexible sheath is provided that is expandable from a contracted condition to an enlarged condition wherein the sheath at least partially defines a lumen therein. The sheath is lubricious and has a relatively thin wall, thereby providing a collapsible/expandable guide for delivering fluids and/or instruments through tortuous anatomy and/or into relatively narrow passages. The sheath is advanced from an entry site to a body lumen in the contracted condition. Once the sheath reaches a target body lumen, the sheath is expanded to the enlarged condition, thereby defining a lumen within the sheath, and fluids and/or instruments are introduced into the body lumen via the sheath lumen. Upon completing the procedure, the sheath is removed from the body lumen. | 07-16-2009 |
20090221909 | Apparatus and Methods for Delivering Stem Cells and Other Agents Into Cardiac Tissue - A system for delivering an agent to tissue surrounding a target vessel includes an elongate delivery device and a source coupled to a proximal tubular portion of the device. A first lumen extends through the tubular portion and an expandable sheath of the device, wherein the expandable sheath has a proximal end that surrounds and overlies a distal end of the tubular portion. The device further includes a stiffening member, attached to the sheath, and a balloon attached to the stiffening member, at a location spaced apart from the sheath. A second lumen extends, within the tubular portion and the stiffening member, to the balloon. A volume of fluid may be delivered, from the source, through the first lumen and into a section of the target vessel that is downstream from the expandable sheath and upstream of the balloon, in order to expand the sheath, fill the section and apply a pressure sufficient to cause extravasation of the section. | 09-03-2009 |
20090259202 | CATHETERS WITH LUBRICIOUS LININGS AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING THEM - Apparatus and methods are provided for substantially continuously forming thin-walled sleeves that may be incorporated into tubular devices sized for introduction into a patient. In one embodiment, a pair of sheets including coated surfaces oriented towards one another are directed through a cutting apparatus to cut the sheets into multiple pairs of strips. The pairs of strips are bonded together to create a plurality of sleeves having lumens defined by the coated surfaces. In another embodiment, a sheet having a coated surface is fed through a cutting tool to separate the sheet into a plurality of strips, and the strips are formed into sleeves, e.g., by feeding the strips through a die or mandrel using a substantially continuous process. Optionally, the sleeves may be subsequently cut into individual tubular devices and/or further processed, e.g., by providing one or more layers around the sleeves to create catheters, sheaths, or other apparatus. | 10-15-2009 |
20100042049 | SLITTABLE OR REMOVABLE VALVES AND APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING THEM - A system and/or apparatus for delivering a medical device into a body includes an elongate tubular member and a valve fitted within a proximal end thereof. The valve preferably includes a tubular body and a flap, wherein the tubular body is engaged within the proximal end of the tubular member and has an open end approximately aligned with a proximal termination of the proximal end of the tubular member. The flap of the valve preferably extends over a hole formed in an end wall of the tubular body opposite a side of the end wall that faces a passage of the tubular body, which passage extends between the open end and the end wall. The hole communicates with the passage and with the lumen of the tubular member, and the flap is movable away from the hole when the device is introduced through the passage and the hole. | 02-18-2010 |
20100057012 | Slittable and Peelable Sheaths and Methods for Making and Using Them - A sheath for delivering a lead or other device into a body lumen is adapted to be removed from around the delivered lead or device via a longitudinally extending feature. This feature of the sheath may be a ripcord, a seam or interlocking features the releasably engage one another. | 03-04-2010 |
20100160952 | Expandable Guide Sheath and Apparatus and Methods for Making Them - An apparatus for providing access to a body lumen includes a tubular proximal portion and an expandable distal portion, which extends distally from a distal end of the proximal portion. The expandable distal portion includes an expandable sheath and a stiffening member. The proximal portion has a first lumen extending from a proximal end to a distal end thereof, and the expandable sheath defines a second lumen that is in fluid communication with the first lumen and extends distally from the proximal portion to a distal terminal opening of the second lumen. The stiffening member is attached directly to the expandable sheath so as to extend alongside the second lumen, and the distal terminal opening of the second lumen is defined by a portion of a perimeter of a distal terminal end of the expandable sheath that becomes spaced apart from the stiffening member when the sheath is expanded. | 06-24-2010 |
20110034790 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CORONARY SINUS ACCESS - Apparatus and methods for locating morphological features within a body cavity using a catheter including proximal and distal ends, a transparent balloon carried on the distal end, and an optical imaging assembly carried on the distal end for imaging through the balloon. The balloon includes a channel extending therethrough to a lumen extending through the catheter. A guidewire or other localization member is received in the lumen that is extendable through the channel. During use, the catheter is inserted into a right atrium of a heart, and the balloon is expanded and placed against the wall of the heart to locate the coronary sinus. Sufficient force is applied to clear blood between the surface and the wall and clear the field of view of the imaging assembly. The catheter is manipulated to locate the coronary sinus, whereupon the localization member is advanced into the coronary sinus. | 02-10-2011 |
20110034876 | Slittable and Peelable Sheaths and Methods for Making and Using Them - A sheath for delivering a lead or other device into a body lumen is adapted to be removed from around the delivered lead or device via a longitudinally extending feature. This feature of the sheath may be a ripcord, a seam or interlocking features the releasably engage one another. | 02-10-2011 |
20110202007 | Slittable or Removable Valves and Apparatus and Methods for Making and Using Them - A system and/or apparatus for delivering a medical device into a body includes an elongate tubular member and a valve fitted within a proximal end thereof. The valve preferably includes a tubular body and a flap, wherein the tubular body is engaged within the proximal end of the tubular member and has an open end approximately aligned with a proximal termination of the proximal end of the tubular member. The flap of the valve preferably extends over a hole formed in an end wall of the tubular body opposite a side of the end wall that faces a passage of the tubular body, which passage extends between the open end and the end wall. The hole communicates with the passage and with the lumen of the tubular member, and the flap is movable away from the hole when the device is introduced through the passage and the hole. | 08-18-2011 |
20110301417 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CORONARY SINUS ACCESS - Apparatus and methods for locating morphological features within a body cavity using a catheter including proximal and distal ends, a transparent balloon carried on the distal end, and an optical imaging assembly carried on the distal end for imaging through the balloon. The balloon includes a channel extending therethrough to a lumen extending through the catheter. A guidewire or other localization member is received in the lumen that is extendable through the channel. During use, the catheter is inserted into a right atrium of a heart, and the balloon is expanded and placed against the wall of the heart to locate the coronary sinus. Sufficient force is applied to clear blood between the surface and the wall and clear the field of view of the imaging assembly. The catheter is manipulated to locate the coronary sinus, whereupon the localization member is advanced into the coronary sinus. | 12-08-2011 |
20130245371 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CORONARY SINUS ACCESS - Apparatus and methods for locating features within a body cavity using a catheter including proximal and distal ends, a transparent balloon carried on the distal end, and an optical imaging assembly carried on the distal end for imaging through the balloon. The balloon includes a channel extending therethrough to a lumen extending through the catheter. A guidewire or other localization member is received in the lumen that is extendable through the channel. During use, the catheter is inserted into a right atrium of a heart, and the balloon is expanded and placed against the wall of the heart to locate the coronary sinus. Sufficient force is applied to clear blood between the surface and the wall and clear the field of view of the imaging assembly. The catheter is manipulated to locate the coronary sinus, whereupon the localization member is advanced into the coronary sinus. | 09-19-2013 |