40 results about "Angioplasty catheter" patented technology

Techniques and devices for treating atherosclerotic disease use controlled cryogenic cooling, often in combination with angioplasty and / or stenting. A combination cryogenic / angioplasty catheter may cool the diseased blood vessel before, during, and / or after dilation. Controlled cooling of the vessel wall reduces actual / observed hyperplasia as compared to conventional uncooled angioplasty. Similar reductions in restenosis may be provided for other primary treatments of the blood vessel, including directional arthrectomy, rotational arthrectomy, laser angioplasty, stenting, and the like. Cooling of vessel wall tissues will often be performed through plaque, and the cooling process will preferably take the thermodynamic effects of the plaque into account.

In a system and method for analyzing and treating a body lumen, a lumen-expanding balloon catheter with integrated one or more delivery waveguides and one or more collection waveguides is used to perform optical analysis of the tissues surrounding the lumen during expansion. The catheter can comprise an angioplasty catheter with integrated delivery waveguides and collection waveguides to perform spectroscopy of a stenotic plaque during angioplasty.

An angioplasty catheter includes an elongated carrier, and an angioplasty balloon about the carrier in sealed relation thereto. The balloon is arranged to receive a fluid therein that inflates the balloon. The catheter further includes a shock wave generator within the balloon that forms a rapidly expanding and collapsing bubble within the balloon to form mechanical shock waves within the balloon. The expanding bubble forms a first shock and the collapsing balloon forms a second shock wave. The shock wave generator is arranged such that the energy of the first shock wave is greater than the energy of the second shock wave.

The present invention relates to a drug-eluting medical device, in particular a balloon for angioplasty catheters with drug elution to prevent the restenosis of the vessel subjected to angioplasty. More particularly, the present invention relates to a catheter balloon completely or partially coated with paclitaxel in hydrated crystalline form or in hydrated solvated crystalline form, having an immediate release and bioavailability of a therapeutically effective amount of paclitaxel at the site of intervention. The balloon can be made of a polyether-polyamide block copolymer, or a polyester amide, or polyamide-12.

A method is described for performing protected angioplasty and stenting of a patient's carotid bifurcation. A self-expanding stent is deployed across a stenosis in the patient's carotid artery. A catheter system that includes a rapid exchange balloon angioplasty catheter with an occlusion balloon catheter positioned through the guidewire lumen is advanced through the guiding catheter and into the distal end of the stent. The occlusion balloon is inflated within the lumen of the stent to occlude the carotid artery and to prevent any embolic debris from traveling downstream from the treatment site. The angioplasty balloon is inflated to dilate the stenosis and to complete the expansion of the self-expanding stent. The angioplasty catheter is withdrawn and any potential embolic debris is aspirated out through the lumen of the guiding catheter. The occlusion balloon is deflated and the catheter system is withdrawn.

The present invention is a stent delivery system that uses short section of guidewire fixedly attached to the distal section of a balloon angioplasty catheter onto which a stent is co-axially mounted. By not having a guidewire that slides through the balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter, the deflated balloon on which the stent is mounted can have a reduced diameter. Therefore, the outer diameter of the pre-deployed stent mounted onto that balloon is also minimized. This provides a smaller profile, i.e., a smaller outer diameter, for the stent. The time to perform a stent delivery procedure is reduced; a separate guidewire does not have to be placed prior to using the stent delivery system to place the stent at the site of a stenosis. Another embodiment of the present invention has a core wire that extends for nearly the entire length of the stent delivery system, the guidewire having different levels of stiffness for different portions of the core wire's length.

Techniques and devices for treating atherosclerotic disease use controlled cryogenic cooling, often in combination with angioplasty and / or stenting. A combination cryogenic / angioplasty catheter may cool the diseased blood vessel before, during, and / or after dilation. Controlled cooling of the vessel wall reduces actual / observed hyperplasia as compared to conventional uncooled angioplasty. Similar reductions in restenosis may be provided for other primary treatments of the blood vessel, including directional arthrectomy, rotational arthrectomy, laser angioplasty, stenting, and the like. Cooling of vessel wall tissues will often be performed through plaque, and the cooling process will preferably take the thermodynamic effects of the plaque into account.

An angioplasty catheter comprising a catheter shaft having a proximal portion and a distal end, an angioplasty balloon attached to the shaft at the distal end, a balloon inflation lumen extending through the shaft and communicating with the interior of the balloon, a guidewire lumen extending through the shaft and through the balloon for receiving a steerable guidewire, the guidewire lumen having an outside wall, wherein the guidewire lumen has a proximal opening located at a point normally outside of the patient during use of the catheter for insertion of a guidewire into the lumen, and a side port adapted to permit passage of a guidewire into the lumen through the outside wall of the guidewire lumen, the side port located distally of the proximal opening and at a point normally inside of the patient during use, and guidewire removing means in the outside wall of the guidewire lumen extending from the proximal opening to the side port for permitting a guidewire in the guidewire lumen to be moved laterally from the guidewire lumen through the outside wall of the guidewire lumen. Also disclosed are a removable “Y” connector and methods for using the catheter and for exchanging catheters and guidewires during vascular catheterization procedures.

An angioplasty catheter and method for making and using the same. An angioplasty catheter comprises an inner tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen extending therethrough; an outer tube disposed over the inner tube, the outer tube having a proximal end and a distal end; a balloon coupled to the distal end of the outer tube; an inflation lumen defined between the inner tube and the outer tube, the inflation balloon in fluid communication with the balloon; and a support block coupled to the inner tube. In addition, a method for manufacturing an angioplasty catheter is disclosed.

The present invention tackles the challenging anatomic characteristics of the coronary artery disease in the bifurcation point and the origin of side-branch. The invention has a specifically designed angioplasty balloon catheter, particularly the balloon shape and profile, to be used in the diseased vessels at these difficult anatomic locations. In stent implanting into a coronary artery, a balloon catheter application is an inseparable requirement. A stent is a passive device that cannot be deployed in a diseased or stenosed artery without a pre-stent, with-stent and / or post-stent balloon dilatation. In majority (more than 95%) of available coronary stents, a stent is deployed by balloon expandable mode, meaning that the stent is delivered and expanded inside a vessel lumen by expanding a delivery balloon. This is done by crimping a stent over a folded balloon for delivery into a coronary artery. When expanded by balloon inflation, a stent is expanded and shaped passively by the inflated balloon shape and profile. The balloon catheter is designed to do angioplasty in the bifurcation and side-branch anatomy of coronary arteries, while minimizing the side effect. This specially designed balloon catheter is not only for balloon angioplasty dilatation of the bifurcation and side-branch anatomy, but is also for delivering and deploying specially designed bifurcation or side-branch stents into these difficult anatomic locations, as a stent delivery system.

A method is described for performing protected angioplasty and stenting of a patient's carotid bifurcation. A self-expanding stent is deployed across a stenosis in the patient's carotid artery. A catheter system that includes a rapid exchange balloon angioplasty catheter with an occlusion balloon catheter positioned through the guidewire lumen is advanced through the guiding catheter and into the distal end of the stent. The occlusion balloon is inflated within the lumen of the stent to occlude the carotid artery and to prevent any embolic debris from traveling downstream from the treatment site. The angioplasty balloon is inflated to dilate the stenosis and to complete the expansion of the self-expanding stent. The angioplasty catheter is withdrawn and any potential embolic debris is aspirated out through the lumen of the guiding catheter. The occlusion balloon is deflated and the catheter system is withdrawn.

A catheter described is a balloon angioplasty catheter either of Over the Wire design or the Rapid Exchange design and has an expansible sleeve over the balloon. The expansible sleeve is porous and is able to absorb large quantities of fluid and fluids containing anti-proliferative drugs or other bioactive agents. The porous sleeve also expands along with the balloon when the balloon is inflated making the porous sleeve in contact with the inner wall of the affected artery or body cavity. The pressure in the balloon can be increased or pulsed, using a piezoelectric transducer, to enhance the flow of the drug from the porous membrane into the vessel wall. The porous membrane can be left in contact for an extended time periods as the catheter contains an extra lumen to provide blood perfusion distal to the balloon. For those lesions necessitating extended drug delivery an additional lumen is provided to supply additional medicines to the lesions. As the drug(s) are passed into the tissue in way of squeezing the porous membrane, needles and the concept of diffusion are not used to deliver the drug and blood flow is not interrupted during drug delivery.

Disclosed herein, among other things, is a system for providing pacing during revascularization. An embodiment of the system includes an angioplasty or stent delivery catheter system having a catheter, a balloon and an inflation device adapted to inflate and deflate the balloon for delivery of a stent. The embodiment also includes a programmable pulse generator and at least one electrode integrated with the angioplasty catheter system, where the pulse generator is connected to the electrode. In various embodiments, at least one integrated sensor is connected to the angioplasty catheter system. The sensor is adapted to sense a parameter indicative of flow restoration and trigger the pulse generator to begin pacing based on the parameter.

Balloon angioplasty catheters having cutting or scoring members that are moveable in at least one direction between a stowed position (away from the angioplasty balloon) and an operative position (on the angioplasty balloon). A balloon catheter of the present invention alternately useable to perform balloon dilation of a body lumen with and without concurrent cutting or scoring.

A distal protection and delivery system is used to collect and remove embolic debris in the blood vessel. The system includes a guidewire, a filter assembly, and a distal introducer. The distal introducer can be positioned on a distal end of an introducer catheter or an angioplasty catheter or other interventional catheter. The guidewire has a small ferrule or locking mechanism fixed to it that does not affect the flexibility, torqueability, or trackability in comparison to standard guidewires. The introducer containing the filter assembly is advanced over the guidewire to a site distal to the lesion. Upon retraction of the guidewire proximally, the ferrule latches with an ejector latch of the filter assembly. Either advancement of the guidewire distally or retraction of the distal introducer proximally allows the filter assembly to be ejected from the distal introducer and into the blood vessel.

A catheter system is described for performing protected angioplasty and stenting of a patient's carotid bifurcation. A self-expanding stent is deployed across a stenosis in the patient's carotid artery. A catheter system that includes a rapid exchange angioplasty catheter with an occlusion balloon catheter positioned through the guidewire lumen is advanced through the guiding catheter to the distal end of the stent. A releasable linking device holds the catheter system together as a unit. The occlusion balloon is inflated within the stent to occlude the carotid artery and to prevent any embolic debris from traveling downstream from the treatment site. The angioplasty balloon is inflated to dilate the stenosis and to complete the expansion of the stent. The angioplasty catheter is withdrawn and any potential embolic debris is aspirated out through the lumen of the guiding catheter. The occlusion balloon is deflated and the catheter system is withdrawn.

A thin-walled guide wire tube is fixedly and sealably attached to both a proximal section and a distal section of a balloon angioplasty catheter. A stent is co-axially mounted onto the inflatable balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter. Because the guide wire tube forms an inner liner for the balloon angioplasty catheter, the fluid inflation lumen of the catheter is sealed so the inflation liquid that pressurizes the balloon will not leak as it would be if there were no “inner liner” and the balloon angioplasty catheter were attached to the guide wire itself. By not having a traditional inner shaft through which a conventional guide wire slides, the deflated balloon on which the stent is mounted can have a reduced diameter.

An angioplasty catheter assembly having an anchoring catheter within a guide catheter such that the anchoring catheter anchors to the guide catheter and the inner wall of a coronary artery; the anchoring catheter has an opening in its tubular wall such that a guide wire and balloon dilatation catheter can be disposed therethrough and extending through the length of the anchoring catheter.

A thrombectomy and balloon angioplasty catheter for the removal of blood clots and debris from a blood vessel and / or for the dilation of a narrowed or completely closed segment in the blood vessel is disclosed. The catheter includes a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, an angioplasty balloon mounted to the shaft adjacent the distal end of the shaft, and an occlusion balloon mounted to the shaft at a location proximally spaced from the angioplasty balloon. A guide wire lumen is arranged on the shaft. The guide wire lumen extends from a first position adjacent the distal end of the shaft to a second position proximal the angioplasty balloon and distal the proximal end of the shaft. The shaft includes an angioplasty balloon inflation lumen in fluid communication with the proximal end of the shaft and an interior space of the angioplasty balloon, an occlusion balloon inflation lumen in fluid communication with the proximal end of the shaft and an interior space of the occlusion balloon, and a thrombectomy lumen in fluid communication with the proximal end of the shaft and a thrombectomy suction port located between the angioplasty balloon and the occlusion balloon.

A stent delivery and deployment system for placement of vascular stents. The device employs a guide wire which is threaded into position in a vein or artery of a patient. An elongated stent having a central cavity communicating therethrough also has a passageway formed axially on or integral to, the sidewall defining the central cavity. The passageway has a diameter sufficient in size to slide upon the guide wire to allow the stent to be translated to the desired position in the blood vessel with the guide wire engaged in the passage. Sliding the stent to the proper position is accomplished by insertion of a balloon angioplasty catheter engaged with the stent, or other means to translate the stent on the guide wire, and sliding the stent with the on the engaged guide wire to the desired position. Once so positioned the stent is expanded and engaged in the blood vessel and the catheter may be removed leaving the guide wire in place for subsequent placement of additional stents or removal. The device also provides for positioning of stents adjacent to each other without gaps therebetween and cooperatively engaging adjacent stents if desired.

A method is disclosed for treating calcified lesions within a wall of a blood vessel. The first step includes breaking apart a calcified lesion using a plurality of shockwaves generated in an angioplasty balloon of an angioplasty catheter device. The angioplasty balloon is dilated via a fluid to a first extent to fit against at least a portion of the wall of the blood vessel. A plurality of electrical pulses are delivered to a pair of electrodes disposed within the fluid inside the balloon. The electrical pulses have an amplitude sufficient to create plasma arcs in the fluid to generate shockwaves that are conducted through the fluid and through the balloon to the blood vessel, to crack the calcified lesion. After breaking apart the calcified lesion, the angioplasty balloon is allowed to further expand to a second extent greater than the first extent, thereby expanding an opening in the blood vessel.

The present invention tackles the challenging anatomic characteristics of the coronary artery disease in the bifurcation point and the origin of side-branch. The invention has a specifically designed angioplasty balloon catheter, particularly the balloon shape and profile, to be used in the diseased vessels at these difficult anatomic locations. In stent implanting into a coronary artery, a balloon catheter application is an inseparable requirement. A stent is a passive device that cannot be deployed in a diseased or stenosed artery without a pre-stent, with-stent and / or post-stent balloon dilatation. In majority (more than 95%) of available coronary stents, a stent is deployed by balloon expandable mode, meaning that the stent is delivered and expanded inside a vessel lumen by expanding a delivery balloon. This is done by crimping a stent over a folded balloon for delivery into a coronary artery. When expanded by balloon inflation, a stent is expanded and shaped passively by the inflated balloon shape and profile. The balloon catheter is designed to do angioplasty in the bifurcation and side-branch anatomy of coronary arteries, while minimizing the side effect. This specially designed balloon catheter is not only for balloon angioplasty dilatation of the bifurcation and side-branch anatomy, but is also for delivering and deploying specially designed bifurcation or side-branch stents into these difficult anatomic locations, as a stent delivery system.

The invention discloses a shock wave generating system for an angioplasty catheter. The system includes an elongate member, wire electrodes, a non-conductive gap, each wire electrode attached to an electrical output terminal of a high voltage power source by an electrical wire extending from a terminal on an outer surface of the elongate member to the wire electrode. The system is an electrode assembly of a shock wave generating angioplasty catheter for treating calcified arteries. Shock waves are impact in nature and can impact and decompose hard calcified platelets deposited on the inner wall of the artery. Once these deposits are fragmented, the space of the arterial lumen expands, thereby improving blood flow.

A two-stage method is disclosed for treating calcified lesions within a wall of a blood vessel. The first step includes breaking apart a calcified lesion using a plurality of shockwaves generated in an angioplasty balloon of an angioplasty catheter device. The angioplasty balloon is dilated via a fluid to a first extent to fit against at least a portion of the wall of the blood vessel. A plurality of electrical pulses are delivered to a pair of electrodes disposed within the fluid inside the balloon. The electrical pulses have an amplitude sufficient to create plasma arcs in the fluid to generate shockwaves that are conducted through the fluid and through the balloon to the blood vessel, to crack the calcified lesion. After breaking apart the calcified lesion, the angioplasty balloon is allowed to further expand to a second extent greater than the first extent, thereby reshaping an opening in the blood vessel.

An angioplasty catheter and method for making and using the same. An angioplasty catheter comprises an inner tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen extending therethrough; an outer tube disposed over the inner tube, the outer tube having a proximal end and a distal end; a balloon coupled to the distal end of the outer tube; an inflation lumen defined between the inner tube and the outer tube, the inflation balloon in fluid communication with the balloon; and a support block coupled to the inner tube. In addition, a method for manufacturing an angioplasty catheter is disclosed.

Apparatus and methods are described for performing angioplasty and stenting with embolic protection. A catheter system includes an angioplasty balloon catheter, a balloon-expandable stent, an embolic protection device and a linking device. The catheter system has an undeployed configuration in which the balloon-expandable stent is mounted on the inflatable angioplasty balloon in an uninflated condition, the embolic protection member is positioned distally to the balloon-expandable stent and the angioplasty balloon, and the linking device is mounted on the catheter shaft of the angioplasty balloon catheter and the device shaft of the embolic protection device. The linking device prevents any relative longitudinal motion of the angioplasty balloon catheter and the embolic protection device, which might lead to accidental dislodgement of the balloon-expandable stent.

Balloon angioplasty catheters having cutting or scoring members that are moveable in at least one direction between a stowed position (away from the angioplasty balloon) and an operative position (on the angioplasty balloon). A balloon catheter of the present invention alternately useable to perform balloon dilation of a body lumen with and without concurrent cutting or scoring.