Abstract: An angiographic guide wire with a tether coupled to one end so that a guide wire unwittingly lost in an artery may be easily and quickly withdrawn.

Abstract: A self-contained, hand-held electronic stethoscope including built-in chestpiece, speaker and visual monitor, includes a memory containing prerecorded heart and lung sounds along with a brief description of the malady producing the sounds so that the technician may compare the actual sounds with the prerecorded sounds and observe a suggested diagnosis on the monitor.

Abstract: A scalpel with a blade set at about thirty degrees to the handle has a blade shield that pivots up from the handle and a shield lock that prevents accidental lifting of the shield. The shield lock includes a small movable shaft just below the sidewalls of the shield next to the handle. A small disc is at each end of the shaft close to the handle and prevents the shield from being pivoted up. A counterbore around the shaft on one side of the handle enables the adjacent disc to be pushed in, thus extending the opposite disc permitting the shield to be pivoted up to unshield the blade.