Abstract: A medical device for treating a heart having a faulty heart valve is disclosed. The medical device comprises a ligature including a first anchoring member and a second anchoring member is used. The ligature is percutaneously deployable into a patient with a faulty heart valve wherein the first anchoring member to anchor to a first tissue area of the heart and the second anchoring member to anchor to a second tissue area of the heart.

Abstract: A nozzle for use in a coating apparatus for the application of a coating substance to a stent is provided.

Abstract: An implantable stent is coated with a material that attracts heparin and with which heparin forms a bond. The stent is exposed to a heparin containing solution just prior to implantation or is first implanted and then exposed to heparinized blood. As heparin becomes detached from the stent, the implantation site is exposed to heparin to restore an effective level and thereby prevent thrombosis.

Abstract: A balloon catheter having a balloon formed at least in part of a blend of a first polymeric material having a first Shore durometer hardness, and at least a second polymeric material having a second Shore durometer hardness less than the Shore durometer hardness of the first polymeric material. The balloon of the invention has enhanced softness and flexibility due to the presence of the second polymeric material, and a lower than expected compliance. In a presently preferred embodiment, the balloon is formed of a blend of polymeric materials comprising polyether block amides.

Abstract: A mounting assembly for supporting a stent and a method of using the same to coat a stent is disclosed.

Abstract: 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 fr

Abstract: A coating for an implantable medical device is disclosed. The coating comprises a polymer and an amino acid chemically bonded, attached or conjugated to the polymer. In one embodiment, the coating can include a therapeutic substance. In lieu of bonding the amino acid to the polymer, the amino acid can be chemically bonded to the therapeutic substance or both the substance and the polymer. The amino acid can be polymers and/or oligomers of L-arginine, and copolymers of L-arginine with lysine. The coating can optionally include a nitric oxide donor, such as diazenium diolate type nitric oxide donors, chemically conjugated to the amino acid.

Abstract: A stent comprising a coating layer is disclosed. The coating layer has a hydrophobic component and a hydrophilic component, wherein a region of the coating layer on or about the outermost surface of the coating layer has a higher content or concentration of the hydrophilic component than the hydrophobic component.

Abstract: The invention is directed to adjustable length mold assemblies for forming inflatable members and methods for using adjustable length mold assemblies for forming inflatable members, such as, for example, balloons for use with balloon catheters and stent delivery systems. The adjustable length mold assemblies comprise at least two mold pieces adapted to fit together, one mold piece having a surface configured to be slidably received by a bore of the other mold piece, the placement of one piece within the other defining a chamber of variable length which forms the mold. Each adjustable length mold assembly of the present invention is effective to form balloons, where if desired different balloons formed by a single mold may have different lengths. The adjustable length mold assemblies may also comprise a positioner to put a mold piece in a desired position relative to the other, and a locking mechanism to secure a mold piece in a desired position.

Abstract: An implantable prosthesis, for example a stent, is provided having one or more elements that form the body structure of the prosthesis. The elements have a width that is variable from a nominal or conventional width to an increased width. The elements can have depots formed in the elements and are generally located at the increased width portions of the elements. Substances such as therapeutic substances, polymeric materials, polymeric materials containing therapeutic substances, radioactive isotopes, and radiopaque materials can be deposited into the depots.

Abstract: A polymer coating for medical devices based on polyorthoesters and methods for fabricating the coating are disclosed.

Abstract: An implantable medical device, such as a stent, is disclosed comprising an amino acid or a polypeptide bonded to a plasma polymerized film layer formed on the device. A method of manufacturing the same is also disclosed.

Abstract: A combination of polymeric components provides desired characteristics in forming medical instruments such as catheters and balloons for dilatation catheters. For example, a balloon material is formed from a blend of polymeric components, including a first crystalline polymeric component and a second softening polymeric component. Where the first two components are generally incompatible, the balloon material can also include a third compatibilizing agent to facilitate blending the first two polymeric components together.

Abstract: A system used in a blood vessel when an interventional procedure is being performed in a stenosed or occluded region, which is capable of capturing embolic material which may be released into a blood vessel during a therapeutic interventional procedure at the site of a lesion in the blood vessel. The system is adapted to be utilized in a collateral blood supply system adapted to enable the flow of blood to bypass the blood vessel upon blocking thereof and to enable the reverse flow of blood through the blood vessel upon unblocking thereof. The system includes a guide wire, including a distal end, adapted to be positioned in a blood vessel relative to an interventional procedure site. A guide catheter, including a distal end, is adapted to enable the interventional procedure to be performed, and to be inserted over the guide wire and through a patient's vasculature to a position in the blood vessel relative to the interventional procedure site.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for improving blood flow to an ischemic region (e.g., myocardial ischemia) a patient is provided. An ultrasonic transducer is positioned proximate to the ischemic region. Ultrasonic energy is applied at a frequency at or above 1 MHz to create one or more thermal lesions in the ischemic region of the myocardium. The thermal lesions can have a gradient of sizes. The ultrasound transducer can have a curved shape so that ultrasound energy emitted by the transducer converges to a site within the myocardium, to create a thermal lesion without injuring the epicardium or endocardium.

Abstract: A catheter having an elongated shaft formed of a polymeric tube with at least a section having an outer coiled support member wound in a first direction and embedded in the polymeric tube, and an inner coiled support member wound in a second direction opposite to the first direction. In a presently preferred embodiment, the inner coiled support member has coils spaced closer together than coils of the outer coiled support member. In one embodiment, the inner coiled support member is partially embedded in the polymeric tube.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for providing a co-extruded, tapered multi-layer shaft. A co-extruded, tapered multi-layer shaft may be fabricated by selecting a first material for the inner layer of the shaft and a second material for the outer layer of the shaft. The first and second materials are then co-extruded by a co-extrusion system including a puller with programmable tapering capabilities. The system forms a hollow tubing having an inner layer and an outer layer, wherein the tubing has the desired tapered characteristics. The result is a tapered tubular shaft having an inner layer and an outer layer.

Abstract: A catheter having a polymeric reinforcing member at a junction between shaft sections such as a rapid exchange catheter junction. The polymeric reinforcing member is around or within the tubular member defining the inflation lumen or the tubular member defining the guidewire lumen at the rapid exchange junction to prevent or inhibit damage to the tubular members defining the inflation lumen and/or guidewire lumen during assembly or use of a balloon catheter. In one embodiment, the polymeric reinforcing member is formed of a first polymeric material having a glass transition temperature greater than a glass transition temperature of a second polymeric material forming the distal portion of the proximal tubular member or the proximal portion of the inner tubular member. The first polymeric material forming the polymeric reinforcing member is preferably a high temperature, high modulus material, such as polyimide, and most preferably a thermoset polyimide.

Abstract: Coatings for medical devices which include polycationic peptides such as L-arginine and methods for fabricating the coatings are disclosed.

Abstract: The present invention provides a deflectable catheter-based system for assisting in the delivery of therapeutic agents, cellular materials and the like to one or more sites in a target body tissue. The system provides for one or more injections to a predetermined needle insertion depth with a single core needle that can be advanced and retracted from the tip of the catheter. The catheter assembly includes a handle subassembly having a mechanism for setting and limiting the depth of insertion of the needle, a slide for moving the injection needle between retracted and extended positions, a return spring for biasing the needle to the retracted position, and a modified pulley mechanism for compensating for catheter shaft compression when the catheter is deflected.