Abstract: An angioplasty balloon catheter having a balloon carried at the distal end of a catheter shaft. The catheter shaft includes an inflation lumen by which the balloon is inflated and deflated. A guide wire passage extends through the balloon. A guide wire assembly extends through the catheter shaft, through guide wire passage, and out the distal end of the balloon. The guide wire assembly carries, near its distal end, a selectively radially expandable valve which is used to limit or block fluid flow between the shaft lumen and the patient's body during inflation and deflation of the balloon.

Abstract: A medical fluid pump apparatus is provided for use with a fluid delivery set including a fluid reservoir, a delivery outlet, and tubing connecting the reservoir to the outlet. The apparatus includes a pump supported on a housing, and a shelf spaced from the pump and provided with a pair of spaced, transverse slots sized for receipt of the tubing of the fluid delivery set so that the tubing of the fluid delivery set may be received in the slots and placed in operative engagement with the peristaltic pump. A latch is supported on the housing for movement between a closed position in which the latch blocks the slots to prevent the removal of the tubing and an open position in which the latch exposes the slots.

Abstract: An improved sprayer assembly for delivery of physiologic glue, including fibrin glue, is disclosed. The sprayer assembly is comprised of at least one female receptacle rigidly affixed to a base member and a sprayer member having at least one atomizing ejection port on an external surface opposing the base member. Within the sprayer member, a system of fluid channels permits each reservoir to be emptied into a well from angular connecting channels, which causes enhanced turbulence within each well. A vortex is created which propagates through an exit port and down an exit channel, causing each solution to exit the sprayer member at each ejection port in a swirling pattern. The spray patterns emitted from each syringe or reservoir overlap, causing droplets of solution to contact one another and commence a clotting reaction at a wound surface.The sprayer assembly is joined to a conventional syringe, a catheter or other solution reservoir.

Abstract: A guiding catheter used for coronary angioplasty procedures includes an plurality of ports in the wall of the guiding catheter. A moveable member is disposed in the lumen or wall of the guiding catheter and is selectively movable between a first position blocking the ports and a second position not blocking the ports. The moveable member is shown as an elongated stylet, a hollow tube with matching ports or a plurality of inflatable balloons. The catheter is positioned adjacent to an artery to be examined. The ports are blocked by the moveable member while contrast medium is injected through the guide catheter to the artery. The ports are opened otherwise to enable the flow of blood between the catheter and the artery.

Abstract: A tubular flexible stent, a combination of stent-catheter, and method thereof, comprises a flexible tubular drain passage segment and a flexible tubular ureteral catheter receiving segment which is collinearly integral with the passage segment. The stent is formed with a curl at each end of the drain passage segment and the catheter receiving segment. The outer width of the catheter receiving segment is same or slightly larger than that of the drain passage segment. The inner width of the catheter receiving segment is larger than that of the drain passage segment. The length of the drain passage segment is substantially longer than that of the catheter receiving segment. A rigid ureteral catheter is inserted into the receiving segment to straighten the preformed curl formed therein and a stiffening wire is passed through the catheter and the stent to straighten the curl formed in the drain passage segment.

Abstract: A vial access pin includes opposed proximal and distal ends. The proximal end of the vial access pin is configured for mounting to a hypodermic syringe. The distal end of the vial access pin defines a cannula. The cannula includes a sharp point for piercing an elastomeric seal of a vial. A lumen extends through the cannula and communicates with the proximal end of the pin. A fluid flow aperture extends through the cannula at a location spaced from the distal end. The aperture enables a vial to be substantially drained without repositioning the cannula relative to the vial. An ampule access tube can be mounted over the cannula to cover the aperture and enable fluid in an ampule to be accessed.

Abstract: A device for controlling flow rate in an intravenous line comprises a housing having an inlet port adapted to be connected to an incoming segment of an intravenous line and an outlet port adapted to be connected to an outgoing segment of the intravenous line. A valve is disposed in the housing between the inlet port and the outlet port. The device further comprises a first valve adjustment mechanism mounted to the housing and operatively connected to the valve for setting the valve to select a desired flow rate, the first valve adjustment mechanism being manually adjustable for selecting the desired flow rate. A second valve adjustment mechanism is mounted to the housing and is operatively connected to the valve for automatically and temporarily closing the valve in response to the exceeding of the desired flow rate by an average flow rate of intravenous fluid into the housing through the inlet port.

Abstract: A surgical tool for use in initial placement of a gastrostomy device in a patient includes an obturator, a cannula and an outer flexible tubular member. A pointed end of the obturator and an adjacent dilator cooperate to incise a tract through the abdominal and stomach walls of the patient. The obturator is removed, leaving the cannula and outer tubular member in place. A deformable section of the flexible tubular member is expanded by movement of the cannula. The outwardly deformed section is then pulled up against the inner wall of the stomach wherein the thickness of the stomach and abdominal walls can be measured by use of visible scale indicia carried on the external surface of the flexible tubular member. Subsequent to the noted measurement, a guidewire or pull wire is passed through a lumen provided by the cannula. The guidewire is used for placing a gastrostomy device of suitable size in the incised tract.

Abstract: An injection or sampling site adapted to receive a blunt cannula includes a housing having an outside end with a passageway extending inwardly from the outside end, the passageway defining an axial direction; and an elastomeric septum closely received in the passageway of the housing. There is a slit extending through the septum generally in the axial direction which is formed by a hole through the septum that is flattened against itself to seal against itself when the septum is assembled in the housing. Either the septum-receiving portion of the housing or the septum itself has a generally elliptical cross-section to preferentially compress the hole in the septum to form the slit.

Abstract: A tubular flexible stent, a combination of stent-catheter, and method thereof, comprises a flexible tubular drain passage segment and a flexible tubular ureteral catheter receiving segment which is collinearly integral with the passage segment. The stent is formed with a curl at each end of the drain passage segment and the catheter receiving segment. The outer diameter of the catheter receiving segment is larger than that of the drain passage segment, wherein the junction therebetween is gradually tapered to form a continuous, non-abrupt outer surface. The length of the drain passage segment is substantially longer than that of the catheter receiving segment. A rigid ureteral catheter is inserted into the receiving segment to straighten the preformed curl formed therein and a stiffening wire is passed through the catheter and the stent to straighten the curl formed in the drain passage segment.

Abstract: A surgical closure device comprises an elongate tubular member having a balloon attached in a collapsed configuration to the tubular member at the distal end thereof. A disk is attached to the tubular member at the distal end thereof, proximally of the balloon. During a surgical operation, the distal end of the instrument, including the balloon but not the disk, is inserted through a perforation in an internal body organ of a patient. The balloon is inflated while inside the organ and presses a wall of the organ against the disk to effectively close the perforation. The tubular member may then be subjected to a suction force to enable evacuation of liquid from the organ. After the suctioning operation, the tube is clamped and severed, the balloon remaining at least temporarily attached to the organ.

Abstract: A vial (2, 202) has first and second chambers (56, 232; 54, 234) initially separated by a rupturable barrier (20, 212). The first chamber is a variable volume chamber defined by a cylinder (18, 208), the rupturable barrier at the second end (19, 214) of the cylinder and a piston (14, 228). The second chamber is created by a telescoping container (22, 226) mounted to a second end of the cylinder. The chambers are telescopically collapsed causing fluid pressure in the second chamber to rupture the barrier so the components mix in the first chamber. The piston is driven through the cylinder from pre-mix to post-mix positions by the liquid from the second chamber. This dislodges a safety shield (30, 226) at the first end of the cylinder to expose the piston.

Abstract: An IV flow monitor is connected to a conventional IV bag via a self-contained puncture tube, and includes a liquid reservoir at the top, which allows the liquid to transfer through a transfer tube and then through a calibrated orifice tube into an orifice chamber, from which the liquid falls through an exit tube connected to a patient or other IV equipment. A manometer tube is connected between the liquid reservoir and the orifice chamber and is aligned with a measurement scale fixed to a backing plate upon which the apparatus is mounted. The pressure drop across the calibrated orifice tube produces a standing column of liquid in the manometer tube and principles of fluid flow allow the rate of flow through the apparatus to be read from the scale. An air trap chamber in an upper portion of the orifice chamber and hydrophobic gas membranes provide safety features that prevent air from being entrained in the liquid flowing through the exit tube to the patient.

Abstract: An elastomeric compression unit forming a balloon protector for a catheter and a catheter system having the balloon protector are disclosed. The balloon protector is formed of an elastomeric tube, preferably silicone, lined with lubricious material. The lubricious lining may be a coating such as silicone or may be a Teflon.TM. tube. The Teflon.TM. tube is split longitudinally, so that the compressive forces of the protector are transmitted through it to the balloon. In the preferred embodiment, the split is made tangential to the inner surface of the Teflon.TM. tube. In the catheter system, the inner lumen is preferably non-compressible, or a stylet is inserted within it to preclude its compression.

Abstract: Trocar assembly devices are disclosed that include an improved seal assembly that accommodates instruments having a wide range of diameters. The seal assembly includes a universal seal member that is generally of hourglass shape defining converging and diverging side walls that form a constricted center bore portion therebetween. Various alternative means are provided to either increase or decrease the inner diameter of the center bore portion of the seal member.

Abstract: A sealing element for dilatation and other inflatable catheters which is formed of a polymer matrix having a bearing surface and having incorporated, at least in the portion of the matrix forming the bearing surface, a lubricous material which swells upon contact with an aqueous based liquid. The bearing surface is adapted to engage the surface of a movable member such as a guidewire when the bearing surface expands from contact with aqueous based liquid. This engagement seals the interface between the movable member and the sealing element and prevents the passage of significant amounts of liquid through the interface between these elements.

Abstract: A combination ureteral stent-ureteral catheter comprising an elongated flexible tubular member which has proximal and distal ends in the form of curls when present in its internalized stent form and which further comprises an elongated tubular rigid extension attached to the distal end of the stent which allows the combination to function as an externalized ureteral catheter. On extracting the rigid extension from the stent while the device is in place, the distal end of the stent reforms itself into a preformed curl and thereafter functions as a Double J internalized catheter or stent.

Abstract: A measuring device and method for determining the length of an incised tract or passage into which gastrostomy appliance is about to be installed. A trocar needle is used to incise a tract or passage extending from the outside surface of a patient's skin into the stomach through the abdominal and stomach walls. The measuring device is positioned in the patient's stomach via a previously endoscopically installed guidewire extending through the patient's mouth, down the esophagus and through the incision. The device is pushed along the guidewire outwardly through the incision until a distal end of the device containing scale indicia is visible. A stop on the device engages the inner wall of the patient's stomach to limit outward movement of the device through the incision, so as to establish an inner stomach wall reference point for the scale indicia.

Abstract: A method for inserting a drain catheter into an antrum includes the steps of securing a needle holder to the trailing end of a needle, positioning a hammer in predetermined spaced relation to the trailing end of the needle holder, loading a bias member so that it urges the hammer to strike the needle holder, restraining the hammer to maintain the load on the hammer, and quickly releasing the hammer and allowing it to strike the needle holder so that the leading end of the needle punctures the bone of the antrum wall. A first dampening member decelerates the hammer at the end of its displacement, and a second dampening member decelerates the needle and needle holder at the end of their joint displacement. A rigid tube is disposed in ensleeving relation to the needle so that the leading end of the tube is positioned in predetermined proximity to the point of the needle so that the leading end of the tube is carried into the antrum when the needle point punctures the antrum wall.

Abstract: Catheters are provided which have multiple flexibilities along their shafts as well as high pressure capabilities throughout the length of the catheter. Included is a catheter body having a relatively high stiffness which is particularly well-suited for maximum pushability through a body cavity or vessel. Secured to the distal end portion of this catheter body is a thin-walled, flexible tube which exhibits low stiffness to thereby impart maximum flexibility to the distal or tip portion of the catheter. A medical device balloon or other distal end member such as an atraumatic tip is secured to the distal end portion of the connecting tube. In the preferred arrangement, the thin-walled, flexible tube had been constructed by proceeding with radial expansion method in order to impart characteristics of excellent flexibility and high burst strength to the thin-walled flexible tube and thus to the assembled catheter.