Abstract: A control handle for a steerable catheter body for navigation of the catheter body through a biological lumen and manipulation at a treatment site. The control handle includes a housing assembly that houses a piston assembly and a resistance adjusting assembly. The resistance adjusting assembly can be adjusted to provide the desired frictional characteristics of the user for control of the resistance between the piston assembly and the housing assembly. In one embodiment, the piston assembly is configured to provide a frictional resistance that varies dynamically to substantially match the restorative force across the range of catheter tip deflection. Other embodiments include a vibrating member that provides tactile feedback to the operator to indicate conditions at the distal end of the catheter, such as contact force.

Abstract: A uni-directional, plunger-type electrophysiology catheter handle is designed to reduce the input force a user must apply to deflect the distal end of the catheter. A force amplifier is operatively coupled to a deflection actuator of the handle. The force amplifier can be a pulley or a system of gears. The force amplifier can increase the output force of deflection actuator by the same factor as that by which the user input force is reduced. A variable-friction autolocking system can also be used to reduce the input force a user must apply during initial deflection as compared to later deflection of the catheter.

Abstract: A control handle for a steerable catheter body for navigation of the catheter body through a biological lumen and manipulation at a treatment site. The control handle includes a housing assembly that houses a piston assembly and a resistance adjusting assembly. The resistance adjusting assembly can be adjusted to provide the desired frictional characteristics of the user for control of the resistance between the piston assembly and the housing assembly. In one embodiment, the piston assembly is configured to provide a frictional resistance that varies dynamically to substantially match the restorative force across the range of catheter tip deflection. Other embodiments include a vibrating member that provides tactile feedback to the operator to indicate conditions at the distal end of the catheter, such as contact force.

Abstract: A plunger-type control handle for controlling the deflection of a distal tip of a catheter. The control handle includes a spool driven by a gear, the spool being connected to the proximal end of at least one pull wire. For bi-directional deflection, a second proximal end of a pull wire is connected to the spool such that when one of the proximal ends is collected by the spool, the other of the proximal ends is released in an equal amount. The gear is operatively coupled to the plunger and engages a gear rack disposed on the control handle housing, such that when there is relative movement between the housing and the plunger, the gear and spool are rotated. In one embodiment, a switching mechanism is provided that reverses the rotation direction of the gear and spool, thereby providing full stroke resolution of the plunger in each of the bi-directional directions.

Abstract: The present invention concerns a solid product comprising oil-droplets having a diameter in the range of 0.1 to 100 microns, cross-linked proteins at the interface of said droplets and any polar, low molecular compound in between the cross-linked protein interfaces.