Abstract: A Y-connector for attachment to the proximal end of a guide catheter which includes an arm projecting from the side of the Y-connector, the arm including a clamp for securing a catheter guidewire against movement relative to the guide catheter.

Abstract: A steerable catheter guide comprised of an outer tube and an inner member surrounded by and rotatable with respect to said outer tube is disclosed. The steerable catheter guide also includes a formable member bonded to said inner member and said outer tube in the area of their respective distal ends. This design causes any rotation of the inner member with respect to the outer member to impart a torque directly to the distal end of the guide making steering much easier and less erratic.

Abstract: A tubular catheter having an inflatable expander member mounted thereon at the distal end thereof is provided with an extremely fine slit passing through the wall of the tubular catheter such that when a liquid is introduced under pressure into the proximal end thereof for inflating the balloon, any air present in the lumen of the catheter and in the yet unexpanded balloon is forced out through the slit. The slit or vent opening through the tube wall is so small that when the catheter is again aspirated to remove the purging fluid, air does not re-enter the expander through the vent opening.

Abstract: A catheter for maintaining the patency of a blood vessel damaged during the course of angiography or angioplasty procedures comprising a toroidal coil whose adjacent turns are tightly wound and in contact with one another over a majority of the length thereof but which are separated from one another over a predetermined longitudinal dimension near the distal end thereof. The tightly wound touching coils may be covered with a Teflon coating and when the catheter must be used to maintain patency in a coronary artery, it is advanced along the guide wire of an angiography or angioplasty catheter until the open turn portion of the bail-out catheter bridges the site of the damaged vessel. After the angiographic or angioplasty catheter and its guide wire are removed, the bail-out catheter remains in position so that blood can flow through the open turns of that catheter and beyond until such time as surgical repair can be made.

Abstract: A hand-operated device for inflating the expander on a balloon-type catheter and for perfusing fluids through the catheter and out its distal end. The inflator device comprises a housing containing a relatively large diameter and volume syringe and a relatively small diameter and volume syringe and a three-way valve for selectively controlling the fluid flow from the large syringe into the small syringe, from the large syringe into the lumen of the catheter or from the small syringe into the lumen of the catheter. By incorporating the two syringes in the same housing, a large volume of fluid, such as a radiopaque contrast medium, can be injected through the catheter and out its distal end while the small diameter and volume syringe can be used to pressurize the expander with considerably less effort than if the large diameter syringe had been used.

Abstract: An inflation/deflation device for an angioplasty balloon catheter which permits quick inflation to an approximate working pressure followed by a fine but slower adjustment to a final desired pressure. The device includes a housing containing a syringe of the type having a cylindrical chamber containing a piston. A specially designed plunger extends from the proximal end of the housing whereby the initial approxiate pressure can be achieved by the hand-squeezing of the plunger and a slight rotation of that plunger is used to maintain the plunger in a locked disposition. An internal shaft is disposed within the tubular plunger and its distal end is secured to the syringe's piston. The internal shaft includes a threaded segment on its exterior surface engaging a correspondingly threaded surface on the interior of the plunger such that rotation of the shaft relative to the plunger causes axial movement of the piston within the syringe.