Abstract: Lysing of fat cells in adipose tissue beneath the skin and liquefying the released fat is achieved by introducing a side-firing thermal energy device into the tissue to be irradiated, while thermal energy, such as laser energy, is emitted at a selected level for a selected period of time, depending on the volume to tissue to be irradiated. The side firing device is advanced into tissue and withdrawn and, while energy is emitted, is aimed separately at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and, is repetitively rotated through an arc of about 120°, producing a bowtie-shaped irradiation pattern. The side firing device may be centered and sealingly held in position in a liposuction cannula by ribs extending inwardly from the interior of the liposuction cannula. At least one of the ribs has a channel for infusion of an irrigating liquid.

Abstract: Lysing of fat cells in adipose tissue beneath the skin and liquefying the released fat is achieved by introducing a side-firing thermal energy device into the tissue to be irradiated, while thermal energy, such as laser energy, is emitted at a selected level for a selected period of time, depending on the volume to tissue to be irradiated. The side firing device is advanced into tissue and withdrawn and, while energy is emitted, is aimed separately at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and, is repetitively rotated through an arc of about 120°, producing a bowtie-shaped irradiation pattern. The side firing device may be centered and sealingly held in position in a liposuction cannula by ribs extending inwardly from the interior of the liposuction cannula. At least one of the ribs has a channel for infusion of an irrigating liquid.

Abstract: A fiber optical device suitable for treating a wide variety of medical conditions that involve shrinking or tightening of cartilaginous tissue, connective tissue, or muscle tissue comprises an optical fiber capable of laser energy delivery to a predetermined tissue site along with a biocompatible cooling fluid. Illustrative treatable medical conditions are female and male unitary incontinence, female stress urinary incontinence, gastro esophageal reflux disease, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, fecal incontinence, and the like. A preferred laser energy source is a CTH:YAG laser.

Abstract: Apparatus for delivering laser energy suitable for denervation, such as renal denervation and the like, comprises an optical fiber inside a cannula and defining a channel therebetween for delivery of a liquid to cool and clean the tip of the optical fiber and to cool tissue subjected to laser irradiation, while the apparatus is Stationed, Moved, Rotated and or Swept during the emission of laser energy.

Abstract: A method for treating patients suffering from left ventricular dysfunction is disclosed. The method involves applying, during diastole, for a time period of about one hour, at least five days each week for at least about six weeks, an incrementally increasing external therapeutic pressure sequentially to the patients' lower extremities from first the calves, then the thighs and last the buttocks. The initial hourly treatments are carried out at a peak diastolic/systolic pressure ratio (D/S Ratio) in the range of about 0.4:1 up to about 0.9:1, depending on the patient's left ventricular ejection fraction. The D/S Ratio is increased slightly during the next set of hourly treatments, the D/S Ratio is again increased slightly during the next following set of hourly treatments, the D/S Ratio is again increased slightly during the next set of hourly treatments, and finally the D/S Ratio is increased slightly and maintained during the remaining set of hourly treatments.

Abstract: A fiber optic device includes an optical fiber passing through a handpiece that defines an internal passageway with an apertured endwall at a distal end of the passageway. A portion of the optical fiber is disposed within the passageway, and a stop member, such as a rigid sheath, within the passageway is attached to the optical fiber. An indexing member releasably engages the rigid sheath to maintain the rigid sheath at a predetermined position within the passageway. The rigid sheath preferably contains a series of index positions for incrementally adjusting the position of the sheath within the passageway. The rigid sheath is slidably mounted in the passageway and is configured to interfere with the endwall when the rigid sheath is released for movement within the internal cavity to its final position within the passageway.

Abstract: A method for treating patients suffering from left ventricular dysfunction is disclosed. The method involves applying, during diastole, for a time period of about one hour, at least five days each week for at least about six weeks, an incrementally increasing external therapeutic pressure sequentially to the patients' lower extremities from first the calves, then the thighs and last the buttocks. The initial hourly treatments are carried out at a peak diastolic/systolic pressure ratio (D/S Ratio) in the range of about 0.4:1 up to about 0.9:1, depending on the patient's left ventricular ejection fraction. The D/S Ratio is increased slightly during the next set of hourly treatments, the D/S Ratio is again increased slightly during the next following set of hourly treatments, the D/S Ratio is again increased slightly during the next set of hourly treatments, and finally the D/S Ratio is increased slightly and maintained during the remaining set of hourly treatments.

Abstract: A method for treating patients suffering from left ventricular dysfunction, exhibited by a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) less than normal, is disclosed. The method involves applying, during diastole, for a time period of about one hour, about five days each week for at least about seven weeks, an incrementally increasing therapeutic pressure to the patients' lower extremities, from the calves through the thighs and the buttocks. The hourly treatments are carried out at incrementally increasing peak diastolic/systolic pressure ratios (D/S Ratios) in the range of about 0.4:1 up to about 0.6:1 and thereafter at a D/S Ratio in the range of 0.5:1 to 1:1 for each consecutive hourly treatment, with the proviso that the average D/S Ratio over the entire treatment regimen does not exceed about 0.9:1.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in a medical device which is comprised of a thermal energy delivery component, for example, including an elongate optical fiber terminating in a lateral laser energy emitter, and an outer coolant component, which includes a cannula for receiving the thermal energy delivery component, which terminates in an energy-transmissive balloon for surrounding the thermal energy emitter and providing a tissue-contacting coolant chamber. The cannula portion of the coolant component is moveably sealed around the laser energy delivery component. In one embodiment, a retaining means prevents the thermal energy delivery component from being detached from the coolant component. In an alternate embodiment, there is no retaining means, allowing the more costly thermal energy delivery component to be removed, sterilized and later reused, whereas the less costly outer coolant component, which contacts tissue, blood and body liquids, can be discarded after use.

Abstract: A laser energy delivery device is provided that is suitable for irradiating a body tissue with relatively long wavelength laser energy in the presence of an aqueous liquid without significant absorption of the laser energy by the liquid. The device includes an elongate hollow sheath that has an open aperture at its distal end portion and closed at its proximal end, a laser energy conduit such as an optical fiber or hollow wave guide, within the sheath, the distal end of the conduit being disposed near the open aperture at the distal end portion of the sheath, and the proximal end of the conduit being adapted for connection to a source of long wavelength laser energy. The sheath also includes an inlet port, spaced from the proximal end of the sheath, and adapted to receive and deliver a biologically compatible gas through the sheath to a body tissue site in contact with the open distal end of the sheath.

Abstract: The invention relates to a catheter device including an optical fiber whose distal end is disposed within a hollow tube with a sharp or needle shaped distal end, which can penetrate tissue. The distal end of the optical fiber and the hollow tube are configured so as to emit, by refraction (total internal reflection) or reflection from a metal surface, laser energy at an angle of about 80° to about 90° relative to the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber and hollow tube. The hollow tube is mounted to a housing and may be surrounded by a sheath.

Abstract: Circulatory assistance is provided in a non-invasive procedure safely and effectively using a microprocessor of an external counter pulsation device programmed to control the actuation of any or all of a plurality of valves, each of which is mounted on and in fluid communication with one of a plurality of individual inflatable bladders disposed in pockets within cuffs encasing the calves, thighs, buttocks, abdomen and/or chest of a person and an optional valve in fluid communication with the person's airway, in any desired sequence or order, toward the heart or toward the feet, either during diastole or systole, at desired inception times during the cardiac cycle, for selected durations and at chosen pressures, for treating a variety of cardiac, non-cardiac and circulatory conditions.

Abstract: A laser energy delivery device and method are provided for irradiating a body tissue with relatively long wavelength laser energy in the presence of an aqueous liquid without significant absorption of the laser energy by the liquid. The device includes an elongate hollow sheath that is open at its distal end and closed at its proximal end, a laser energy conduit such as an optical fiber or hollow waveguide, within the sheath, the distal end of the conduit being disposed near the open distal end of the sheath, and the proximal end of the conduit being adapted for connection to a source of long wavelength laser energy. The sheath also includes an inlet port, spaced from the proximal end of the sheath, and adapted to receive and deliver a biologically compatible gas through the sheath to a body tissue site in contact with the open distal end of the sheath.

Abstract: An optical fiber device for ablating a channel through a plaque deposit or a clot in a blood vessel is described. Laser energy is transmitted through one or a bundle of optical fibers to a quartz or fused silica cylinder, whose distal end surface has been made into a desired shape and sandblasted or carbon coated or both. The cylinder is received with a pocket defined in a sheath which surrounds the optical fibers. Moreover, the cylinder includes a circumferential recess and the sheath includes a circumferential rib which engages into the recess for securing the lens in the pocket. In one embodiment, the cylinder has a cavity formed therein and the distal end of the optical fiber extends into the cavity. In a further embodiment, the device is adapted to be guided along a wire extending through the pocket and an aperture defined in the sheath and/or a channel defined in the cylinder.

Abstract: The invention relates to a catheter device including an optical fiber whose distal end is disposed within a hollow tube with a sharp or syringe shaped distal end, which may be inserted into tissue. The distal end of the optical fiber and the hollow tube are configured so as to emit, by refraction (total internal reflection) or reflection from a metal surface, laser energy at an angle of about 80° to about 90° relative to the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber and hollow tube. A first fluid channel within the distal end portion of the tube enables fluid to be infused to cool the distal end of the tube and to cool and clean the emission face of the optical fiber. A second, relatively larger diameter fluid channel in the tube enables the fluid, flowing through said first channel along with hot gasses from the vaporization of tissue, to exit the device through a second port in the tube, away from the tissue being treated.

Abstract: A laser energy delivery device is provided that is suitable for irradiating a body tissue with relatively long wavelength laser energy in the presence of an aqueous liquid without significant absorption of the laser energy by the liquid. The device includes an elongate hollow sheath that is open at its distal end and closed at its proximal end, a laser energy conduit such as an optical fiber or hollow wave guide, within the sheath, the distal end of the conduit being disposed near the open distal end of the sheath, and the proximal end of the conduit being adapted for connection to a source of long wavelength laser energy. The sheath also includes an inlet port, spaced from the proximal end of the sheath, and adapted to receive and deliver a biologically compatible gas through the sheath to a body tissue site in contact with the open distal end of the sheath. In use, the open distal end of the sheath is positioned in contact with a body tissue site.

Abstract: A catheter device suitable for shrinking chordae tendineae of the human heart is provided having an energy conduit and a positioning device that facilitates the delivery of thermal energy, including coherent (laser) or non-coherent light, RF, microwave or ultrasound energy, to a predetermined region of the chordae tendineae or other collagen-containing tissue, such as the female urethra or the esophagus near the sphincter. The device comprises a tubular catheter containing an energy conduit, such as a fiber optic cable, adapted for delivering thermal energy to the tissue. The tubular catheter also contain a stabilizing device, disposed at its distal end, such as an asymmetrically shaped balloon or a retractable flexible metal hook. With the distal end of the catheter device positioned within a human heart, application of thermal energy to the chordae tendineae results in a shrinkage of the chordae, providing a treatment for primary mitral valve regurgitation.

Abstract: Particles larger than 7 microns in diameter and containing a therapeutic material are described. Such particles are sufficiently large to lodge in tissue or a blood vessel and can be made to rapidly degrade therein before creating infarcts. Rapid degradation of liposomes containing a therapeutic agent can be achieved by either preparing the liposome in a high salt solution or incorporating in the liposome a component which is stable at or below room temperature, but which becomes unstable at 35° C. or higher. Such particles are useful in delivering, for example, angiogenic growth factors or genes coding for angiogenic growth factors into the coronary arteries of the heart or the heart muscle, as well as other therapeutic agents into organs or tissues or blood vessels feeding the same to achieve a desired effect.

Abstract: An optical fiber device for ablating a channel through a plaque deposit or a clot in a blood vessel is described. Laser energy is transmitted through one or a bundle of optical fibers to a quartz or fused silica cylinder, whose distal end surface has been made into a desired shape and sandblasted or carbon coated or both. The cylinder is received with a pocket defined in a sheath which surrounds the optical fibers. Moreover, the cylinder includes a circumferential recess and the sheath includes a circumferential rib which engages into the recess for securing the lens in the pocket. In one embodiment, the cylinder has a cavity formed therein and the distal end of the optical fiber extends into the cavity. In a further embodiment, the device is adapted to be guided along a wire extending through the pocket and an aperture defined in the sheath and/or a channel defined in the cylinder.

Abstract: Circulatory assistance is provided in a non-invasive procedure safely and effectively using a microprocessor of an external counter pulsation device programmed to control the actuation of any or all of a plurality of valves, each of which is mounted on and in fluid communication with one of a plurality of individual inflatable bladders disposed in pockets within cuffs encasing the calves, thighs, buttocks, abdomen and/or chest of a person and an optional valve in fluid communication with the person's airway, in any desired sequence or order, toward the heart or toward the feet, either during diastole or systole, at desired inception times during the cardiac cycle, for selected durations and at chosen pressures, for treating a variety of cardiac, non-cardiac and circulatory conditions.