Abstract: An inserter having a housing, a syringe carriage slidably mounted within the housing and a syringe socket defined within the syringe carriage. The syringe carriage is able to assume a cocked position and an extended position with the latter being the position for injection. A spring biases the syringe carriage to the extended position and a latch selectively retains the syringe carriage in the cocked position.

Abstract: There is here provided a wing-like needle protector which can surely prevent mistaken sticking, and can safely cap a hollow needle. The wing-like needle protector for housing a wing-like needle 1 which comprises a hollow needle 2, a holding cylinder 3 for holding a rear end of the hollow needle 2, and a pair of wing pieces 4, 4 formed integrally with the holding cylinder 3 so as to freely coalesce with each other. The protector comprises a gutter-shaped member 7 for housing the hollow needle 2, the holding cylinder 3 and the coalesced wing pieces 4, 4, and a gripper 8 protruded outward from a bottom surface of the gutter-shaped member 7. The gutter-shaped member 7 has a closed tip 9a of a portion 9 for housing the hollow needle 2, an opened rear end 10a of a portion 10 for housing the holding cylinder 3, and a narrowed area 7a where the holding cylinder 3 is fitted in a bottom portion, and the holding cylinder 3 is engaged with the narrowed area 7a.

Abstract: The insulin syringe with magnified sheath is a syringe with a transparent outer sleeve constructed of a material capable of magnifying printed information. The outer sleeve is slidably attached to the syringe barrel and can lock into a retracted position where it surrounds the syringe barrel and magnifies the dosage indicia thereon while exposing the syringe needle for use or can lock into an extended position where it surrounds the needle to help prevent inadvertent needle sticks.

Abstract: A safety syringe is provided which includes a shield and a barrel mounted for reciprocating movement within the shield. The safety syringe includes a hub sized and shaped so as to be attached to the barrel and a ring rotatably mounted to the hub. The ring includes a tab that cooperates with the grooves in the interior wall of the shield for locking the barrel within the shield so as to allow for a single use of the safety syringe.

Abstract: A catheter shaft for a catheter includes a centrally-located guidewire lumen. A body portion of the catheter shaft includes arc-shaped nodes that define a guidewire track within the guidewire lumen. The nodes include a crown region that includes a single contact point for the guidewire and may be formed of a material having a lower coefficient of friction. At least one node has an inflation lumen extending therethrough. The catheter shaft has a cut in it extending radially from the guidewire lumen to an exterior surface of the catheter shaft. The balloon catheter has a guide member that opens the cut and tracks the guidewire in and out of the catheter shaft along a length of the catheter shaft which is cut.

Abstract: A medical device for long-term implantation is provided, as well as a method of making the same and a method of treatment using the same. The medical device comprises (1) a reservoir including (a) a polymer matrix and (b) an antimicrobial agent disposed within the polymer matrix, wherein the reservoir is adapted for long-term release of the antimicrobial agent from the polymer matrix; and (2) a surfactant region disposed over the reservoir at an outer surface of the device.

Abstract: A bone marrow aspiration device is provided having a handle adapted to facilitate grasping thereof, and an elongate penetrating element coupled to the handle and having a proximal inlet port and a distal piercing tip for penetrating into tissue and bone. The device is particularly effective in that the configuration of the handle and the elongate penetrating element allows a person to grasp and manipulate the handle while accessing the inlet port to aspirate fluid therethrough. The device is also effective to facilitate penetrating of the device into bone due to the configuration of the distal penetrating tip. A person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that, while the device is described for use as a bone marrow aspiration device, the device can be used to withdraw or inject fluid.

Abstract: A percutaneous access device is provided including a sleeve having an inner lumen extending therethrough that is adapted to slidably receive a catheter, and at least one flange disposed around the sleeve and adapted to be positioned adjacent a tissue surface. In a preferred embodiment, the device includes a first flange disposed around the sleeve and adapted to be positioned adjacent a first tissue surface, and a second flange disposed around the sleeve and spaced apart from the first flange such that the second flange is adapted to be disposed adjacent a second tissue surface opposed to the first tissue surface. In use, the flanges 16, 18 are positioned on opposed sides of tissue so that the device 10 is effective to prevent tissue surrounding the percutaneous access device from coming into contact with the catheter as it is introduced through the sleeve 12.

Abstract: Devices and methods are provided for temporarily inducing cardioplegic arrest in the heart of a patient and for establishing cardiopulmonary bypass in order to facilitate surgical procedures on the heart and its related blood vessels. Specifically, a catheter based system is provided for isolating the heart and coronary blood vessels of a patient from the remainder of the arterial system and for infusing a cardioplegic agent into the patient's coronary arteries to induce cardioplegic arrest in the heart. The system includes an endoaortic partitioning catheter having an expandable balloon at its distal end which is expanded within the ascending aorta to occlude the aortic lumen between the coronary ostia and the brachiocephalic artery. Means for centering the catheter tip within the ascending aorta include specially curved shaft configurations, eccentric or shaped occlusion balloons and a steerable catheter tip, which may be used separately or in combination.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for the reproducible, consistent and efficacious delivery of a therapeutic agent to a patient. The invention comprises means for the controlled administration of the therapeutic agent through an orifice to the patient, a plurality of penetrating electrodes arranged with a predetermined spatial relationship relative to the orifice, and means for generating an electrical signal operatively connected to the electrodes.

Abstract: A device for delivering an IV catheter to an IV infusion site is disclosed. The device includes a cylindrical housing adapted to fit into the hand of the clinician. A catheter assembly is disposed in the housing and can be advanced to an extended position and retracted. The catheter assembly includes a needle adapted to be inserted into the vein and the catheter is mounted on the needle to allow the catheter to be removed at will. The catheter assembly is rotated as the needle is inserted into the vein. Preferably the catheter assembly is rotated during the insertion of the needle and catheter. After the needle and catheter are inserted into the vein, the needle is retracted into the housing leaving the catheter in place. The housing and the needle can now be discarded.

Abstract: An echogenic and/or radio-opaque device adapted to permit carrying out removals from the genital organs for analysis, or adapted to promote the transfer of products, particularly gametes or embryos, into the female genital organs, or again adapted to carry out tests for the introduction of catheters into the uterus and to analyze the morphology of the neck of the uterus and of the uterine cavity. The device comprises an echogenic and/or radio-opaque material permitting visualizing by medical imagery, particularly by echography or radiography, the position of the usable orifice or of the distal portion of the device.

Abstract: An enterostomy device for providing fluids and nutrients through a stoma formed through the abdominal wall of a patient is described. The enterostomy device, which may be configured as either a gastrostomy device or a jejunostomy device, comprises a low-profile retaining member which is configured to be unobtrusively positioned within the stomach or the intestine, and which is configured to provide sufficient surface area for contacting the stomach or intestine to prevent unintentional removal or release of the enterostomy device from the patient. The enterostomy device is also structured with a low-profile port hub for facilitating the inflation of the retaining member and feeding and venting through the stoma.

Abstract: An apparatus for irrigating a body cavity with a liquid comprises an irrigation pump and, associated therewith, an irrigation conduit leading to the body cavity for feeding the liquid into the body cavity, and at least one suction conduit leading away from the body cavity and, associated therewith, a suction pump for drawing off the liquid from the body cavity, and a control circuit, which controls the irrigation pump and the suction pump such that the liquid passes through the body cavity substantially with a predetermined nominal pressure and a predetermined nominal flow rate. The control circuit controls the irrigation pump as a function of the nominal flow rate, while it controls the suction pump as a function of the nominal pressure.

Abstract: The delivery of a fluid cutaneously is effected by generating a suction force on a surface of a housing. A surface of a cutaneous layer is received under the suction force about which the proximal end of a needle thereby to pierce the cutaneous surface and to effect an injection of fluid. There is generated a suction force to operate the movement of a needle in the housing. The needle is moved under the suction force from the housing thereby to permit piercing a cutaneous layer. The bladder for containing fluid is emptied under the suction into the distal end of the needle and thereby permit the expulsion of fluid through the proximal end of the needle for injection below the cutaneous layer.

Abstract: An apparatus and system is provided for delivering a therapeutic agent to selected sites within an organism. More particularly, the invention allows for the simultaneous delivery of therapeutics to multiple treatment locations from a single catheter using a single pumping source. The catheter utilizes a microporous membrane that allows for the distribution of therapeutic agents from multiple longitudinal positions.

Abstract: The invention provides a continuous liquid infusion device in which liquid syringe and a negative pressure cylinder are separable to use a liquid infused syringe. This continuous liquid infusion device includes: a negative pressure cylinder having a barrel part including an open/close valve at its tip and leg parts extending from a base end thereof; a piston air-tightly fitted in the barrel part and connected to a base end of an outer case covering an outer surface of the barrel part, through slots between the leg parts; a liquid syringe having a liquid infusion/discharge port at its tip, and a base end screwed with the outer case so that the liquid syringe is positioned back to back with the negative pressure cylinder; and a movable unit liquid-tightly fitted to an inner circumference of the tip of the liquid syringe and abutting against a base end of the leg parts.

Abstract: A sheath is composed of a biocompatible material which has a stiffness and moldability such that it can easily be deformed by hand by the physician prior to implantation, or by means of a guiding or shaping tool such as the dilator, stylet and or guide wire during placement within the body cavity. Similarly, it has a suppleness such that it may be molded by its disposition within the body cavity without trauma to the tissues. Yet, it has sufficient stiffness and moldability such that it retains a shape which has been imparted to it by a shaping tool when in the body cavity, even when left unsupported or unconfined in a body cavity or subject to normal bodily fluid, blood or air flow. However, once the shaping or forming tool has been removed, the sheath will tend to stay in its molded shape in a body cavity without generating a resilient force or displacement which returns it to its original shape.

Abstract: A medical device (110) including a catheter shaft (111) and a unitarily and continuously formed portion (108) having a varying durometer, and optionally including an expandable balloon (18, 118). One or both of the unitarily and continuously formed portion (108) and the balloon (18, 118) are made from an irradiation cross-linked or cross-linkable mixture of a polyamide elastomer and at least one additional cross-linking reactant. The polyamide elastomer can be a polyester amide, a polyether ester amide or a polyether amide, and is preferably a nylon block copolymer. The aromatic molecule can be 1,3,5 triethyl benzene; 1,2,4 triethyl benzene; and 1,3,5 triisopropyl benzene. The cross-linking reactant can be: (a) a difunctional material, (b) a trifunctional material, (c) a tetrafunctional material, or (d) an aromatic molecule containing at least two ring substituents, each of the ring substituents having labile hydrogens at a benzylic site therein.

Abstract: Microchip devices and methods of manufacture thereof are provided to increase the uniformity and reliability of active exposure and release of microchip reservoir contents. In one embodiment, the microchip device for the controlled release or exposure of molecules or secondary devices comprises: (1) a substrate having a plurality of reservoirs; (2) reservoir contents comprising molecules, a secondary device, or both, located in the reservoirs; (3) reservoir caps positioned on the reservoirs over the reservoir contents; (4) electrical activation means for disintegrating the reservoir cap to initiate exposure or release of the reservoir contents in selected reservoirs; and (5) a current distribution means, a stress induction means, or both, operably engaged with or integrated into the reservoir cap, to enhance reservoir cap disintegration.