Abstract: An apparatus and method used in a urological procedure. The apparatus includes a sheath capable of insertion into a passageway within a patient. A filter is provided that includes a mesh that retains any particulate matter that is entrained with the liquid and allows the liquid to pass therethrough. The filter may be removeably attached to receive flow from an outlet of the sheath.

Abstract: A disposable access sheath having a deflectable tip is provided. The access sheath is very flexible and allows a physician or other medical professional to provide diagnostic or therapeutic services to a remote body cavity. The access sheath has a deflectable tip that is able to bend at least 90° or 180° or more. This flexibility allows the physician or medical professional to make a very tight turn to visualize or treat the body cavity being treated. The access sheath may include a visualization system, a working channel, an irrigation channel, or other desirable features. The access sheath may include an interface at the proximal end of the working channel for insertion of an instrument for diagnosis or treatment of a human or mammalian patient.

Abstract: A retrieval device is provided for retrieving stones, calculi, and other objects from a body. The device allows for a retrieval basket to be articulated and extended simultaneously. The device also allows for the basket to be articulated and retracted simultaneously.

Abstract: A multiple-lumen access sheath for use with an endoscopic or laparoscopic device. The sheath includes a flared funnel on a proximal end of the access sheath for ease of handling by a user. The sheath also includes an elongated portion extending from the funnel to a distal end of the sheath, the elongated portion comprising a first lumen and at least one additional lumen for substantially the length of the elongated portion. There is also an interface for the at least one additional lumen on the proximal end.

Abstract: A back loading instrument for use with a medical device, such as an endoscope or a colonoscope, features larger endoscopic instruments or end effectors and enables gathering of much larger samples, such as biopsies. The instrument also allows for superior grasping, mobilization, cutting, or removal of tissue or foreign bodies from a patient. The end effector, such as a biopsy forceps, of the back loading instrument has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the working channel of the endoscope or other medical device used to control the instrument. By using this medical device as part of a minimally-invasive procedure, trauma to the patient is minimized.

Abstract: Double ended wire guides are manufactured so that either end, or both ends sequentially, may be inserted into a patient. The ends are different, so that the inventory requirements of wire guides are minimized. For example, a wire guide may have a straight end and an angled end, either end suitable for use on the patient. The wire guides may also differ in other characteristics, such as the stiffness or the diameters of the distal and proximal portions. The wire guide may also be stored in a package, the package including a fitting so that wetting solution may be injected into the package to wet the wire guide and prepare it for use.

Abstract: A retrieval device for use in renal, biliary, vascular or other systems of a body includes a collapsible basket in a narrow sheath. A surgeon advances the device beyond an object to be removed from a body, such as a kidneystone, a gallstone, or a thrombus. The surgeon then retracts the sheath or advances the basket from the sheath. The basket deploys only to one side of the sheath. In some embodiments, the periphery of the basket has a flex point to enable the basket to easily collapse into the sheath. If the sheath is adjacent a body vessel, such as a blood vessel or a ureter, the sheath remains adjacent the wall, while the device deploys in such a manner as to seal against the walls of the vessel and block the flow of fragments, emboli, thrombi, or other undesirable objects.

Abstract: The novel compounds Iodo-p-hydroxyphenyl-glycylglycylglycine and Benzoylprolylphenylalanylarginine are disclosed, together with radioisotope labeled forms thereof, wherein the radioisotope is incorporated in the Iodo-p-hydroxyphenyl moiety or the Benzoyl moiety, respectively. These compounds are useful as substrates for angiotensin converting enzyme in an assay for that enzyme's activity.

Abstract: A light gas oil, consisting predominantly of alkylated naphthalenes plus minor amounts of thiophene, quinoline, indan, and related naphthalene type carbonaceous compounds, derived from the liquid by-product from olefin production by pyrolysis in steam of a hydrocarbon fraction, is converted to mononuclear aromatic hydrocarbons by a two stage process in which said naphthalene type carbonaceous compounds are first hydrogenated at tetralinizing conditions saturating only one of the two aromatic rings of the feedstock. Said first stage hydrogenation also hydrodesulfurizes and hydrodecontaminates said feedstock. The tetralanized desulfurized normally liquid effluent from the first stage hydrogenation is hydrocracked in the second stage, said hydrocracking being in the presence of a catalyst featuring a stabilizing metal component on an acid-modified mordenite having a silica to alumina unit mol ratio within the range from 15 to 70 as a result of acid leaching of mordenite.