Abstract: The present invention provides apparatus and methods for facilitating entry through a bodily opening comprising a spreader having a plurality of arms, each of the arms being formed of a resilient material and shaped so that the distal ends tend to be spaced apart from each other when the spreader is in an open position. At least one of the arms has an engaging member having a sharpness adapted to grasp tissue. When the spreader is radially deployed to the open position, the engaging member grasps tissue adjacent the bodily opening and urges the tissue away from the opening to facilitate visualization of the opening and/or access into the opening. A catheter or other device may subsequently be inserted between one or more arms of the spreader and through the bodily opening while the spreader holds the tissue in a spread position.

Abstract: A medical sealing device is provided that substantially seals around one or more medical devices that are placed into the working channel of an endoscope; wherein the one or more medical devices have an irregular cross-sectional profile. When a sufficient back pressure or surface tension is present in the working channel, the sealing device collapses a portion of itself and conforms to a portion of the one or more medical devices present in the working channel, thus forming a seal around and between the one or more medical devices. The seal thereby substantially prevents the escape of fluids from the working channel.

Abstract: An apparatus and method comprising at least one intragastric member made of a digestive-resistant or substantially indigestible material that is introduced into a bag located in the gastric lumen of a mammal for the treatment of obesity. One or more intragastric members are loaded into a delivery tube in a partially compacted first configuration and delivered to an overtube. The overtube includes a proximal end, a distal end and a lumen configured to receive the intragastric members in the first configuration for delivery to the bag located in the gastric lumen wherein the intragastric member is expanded to a second configuration. The apparatus further comprises a constraining element engaged with the bag to secure the intragastric member upon delivery into the gastric lumen.

Abstract: An endoscope securing and positioning device is provided for adjusting or maintaining the position of an endoscope. The device allows the medical professional to easily rotate an endoscope or maintain its position without having to maintain a grip on the endoscope.

Abstract: A hybrid intraluminal device and a method for fabricating the device is described. The device has structural elements which have different properties. One portion of the device may contain a stent having a zigzag configuration. A second portion of the device may contain a stent having a braided configuration. The first and second portions may possess the same architectural pattern but yet exhibit variation in radial force as a result of various properties of the structural elements. The portions are attached to a coating to form a hybrid stent. Gaps between the different stent sections provide flexibility to the stent. The first and second portions may be configured in numerous ways. The structural features of the hybrid stent can be adapted to satisfy the criteria of specific medical applications.

Abstract: An expandable and retrievable stent is disclosed herein. The stent includes an inner strut, a first traveling anchor movably attached to the inner strut and a second anchor secured to the inner strut. The stent further includes frame connected to the first traveling anchor and the second anchor wherein the frame has at least a radially compressed configuration and a radially expanded configuration. The stent may also include a generally cylindrical sleeve.

Abstract: An endoscopic ultrasound-guided system and method for monitoring the location of a device contained within intraluminal and extraluminal regions of a patient is described. The endoscopic ultrasound-guided system includes a linear echoendoscope, a device, and a wire guide. The device and wire guide contain echogenic surfaces which enable transducers placed at the distal end of the linear echoendoscope to ultrasonically monitor the location of the devices. When the echogenic surface of the device encounters incident ultrasound waves emitted from a series of linear array transducers, a real-time ultrasonic image of the device is generated as the incident ultrasound waves reflect off the echogenic surfaces and propagate back towards the transducers. The surgeon receives the real-time ultrasonic image of the device and then can determine the location of the device within the intraluminal or extraluminal region of the patient.

Abstract: A stent is described that is capable of expanding and thereafter recoiling to its initial coiled state within a biliary duct. A delivery system is utilized to deploy the stent in its natural coiled state into a targeted site of an occluded biliary duct. A balloon from the delivery system is positioned within a lumen defined by the inner coiled arm of the stent. The inflation of a balloon from the delivery system causes the inner coiled arm to radially move outward and engage the outer coiled arm to form an expanded stent. The expanded stent can revert back to its recoiled state by deploying a balloon through a lumen of the expanded stent. Inflation of the balloon disengages the inner coiled arm from the outer coiled arm thereby collapsing the inner coiled arm radially outward and onto the outer coiled arm to form a recoiled stent. The recoiled stent can be removed from the biliary duct.

Abstract: A wire guide holder having a wire guide deflector. The wire guide holder is provided with a securing portion and a deflecting portion. The securing portion is provided with protrusions and/or grooves for securing a distal portion of a wire guide against longitudinal movement. The deflecting portion is configured to direct the proximal end of a wire guide into an unobtrusive position. A frictional element may be provided to prevent the wire guide from inadvertently sliding or falling out of the deflecting portion. The wire guide holder may be attached to a medical scope or a bite block. The wire guide holder may also be provided with a seal.

Abstract: A self-contracting stent for use at a treatment site comprising shape memory material is provided. The stent may have an initial diameter for delivery to the treatment site and an expanded diameter when deployed at the treatment site. The stent further may have a contracted diameter when subjected to a temperature at or above a transition temperature. The contracted diameter is less than the expanded diameter and permits repositioning or removal of the stent from the treatment site. Additionally, a method for delivering and recovering the stent from a treatment site is provided. The method includes delivering a stent to a treatment site and expanding the stent at the treatment site so that the stent is deployed at the treatment site. The method further includes changing the temperature of the stent at the treatment site to at least a transition temperature to cause the stent to contract.

Abstract: An inflatable stent is provided for placement within the biliary duct to facilitate drainage therethrough and maintain the patency of the duct. The biliary stent includes a tubular member, an inflatable reservoir and a port located at a proximal portion of the tubular member. The tubular member has interior and exterior surfaces and an inflatable reservoir disposed circumferentially between the interior and exterior surfaces. An inflation fluid, such as a liquid or gas, may be inserted through the port and contained within the inflatable reservoir to expand the diameter of the biliary stent. The biliary stent may be removed from the patient by deflating the inflatable reservoir and using a removal device such as a forceps or snare.

Abstract: A system and method for delivering one or more implantable members, such as metal coils, via an introducer member, such as an endoscopic needle, into a space created within the submucosal layers of the LES to augment and bulk the sphincter to improve compliance in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. The implantable member comprises a first substantially straightened configuration when carried by the introducer member, whereby it assumes a more curvilinear or coiled configuration following deployment such that it expands against adjacent submucosal tissue, creating a bulge at the implantation site. In another embodiment, the implantable member can serve as an anchoring port for sutures or other elements introduced for gastroplication of the LES to create tissue folds that increase sphincter compliance. The implantable members may be configured to include an external portion that interconnects with an adjacent implantable member, thereby creating tension that also increases compliance of the LES.

Abstract: An elongate catheter shaft having a side port aperture through a side wall of the catheter shaft between proximal and distal ends of the shaft. The side port aperture is open to a lumen. Embodiments of the present invention are directed to stiffening structure disposed in the immediate vicinity of the side port aperture. The stiffening structures may be disposed on or be continuous with, for example, an exterior surface, an interior lumenal surface, within a wall of the catheter shaft, or some combination thereof. The stiffening structures described herein are directed to biasing the catheter shaft in the region of a side port aperture in a straight or curved configuration that resists undesired flexure in the region of the side port aperture.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for releasably securing a wire guide to an elongate medical device for introduction into a work site with the bodily lumen of a patient. An elongate engagement member is configured to engage the wire guide while it is coupled to the elongate medical device and is configured so as to prevent relative movement between the wire guide and the elongate medical device.

Abstract: A wire guide holder having a body for securing an elongate medical wire or tube, such as a wire guide or catheter. The body is adapted to be attached to a scope or a bite block. The body can be provided with protrusions and/or grooves for holding a wire guide. The wire guide holder may be affixed to the medical scope by clamping. The wire guide holder can also be provided with a seal.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for introducing a first elongate medical device and short wire guide that are coupled together into a work site and remotely disconnecting them within the work site such that a secondary device comprising a catheter member can be introduced over the wire guide to the work site, and/or a second wire guide can be introduced to the work site via a passageway of the primary access device. A system of indicia, such as radiopaque or viewable markers, permits the operator to monitor the relative alignment of the devices within the work site to determine when uncoupling has occurred. In one example of the method, a wire guide and primary access device (e.g., a sphincterotome) is coupled to the wire guide and introduced via a duodenoscope into the biliary system. After performing a first medical operation, the devices are uncoupled with the wire guide being left within the biliary system such that a secondary access device, such as a balloon, biopsy device, stent delivery catheter, dilator, etc.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for introducing a first elongate medical device and short wire guide that are coupled together into a work site and remotely disconnecting them within the work site such that a secondary device comprising a catheter member can be introduced over the wire guide to the work site, and/or a second wire guide can be introduced to the work site via a passageway of the primary access device. A system of indicia, such as radiopaque or viewable markers, permit the operator to monitor the relative alignment of the devices within the work site to determine when uncoupling has occurred. In one example of the method, a wire guide and primary access device (e.g., a sphincterotome) is coupled to the wire guide and introduced via a duodenoscope into the biliary system. After performing a first medical operation, the devices are uncoupled with the wire guide being left within the biliary system such that a secondary access device, such as a balloon, biopsy device, stent delivery catheter, dilator, etc.

Abstract: A pultrusion apparatus for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced plastic article having a non-linear shape includes a mold configured to receive a partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article and to form the partially-cured fiber-reinforced plastic article into a spirally wound shape. A drive mechanism is coupled to the mold and configured to rotate the mold such that the fiber-reinforced plastic article is taken up on the mold. An energy source is operatively associated with the mold and positioned so that the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article is cured in a spirally wound shape as the article is taken up on the longitudinally extending mold. The pultrusion apparatus allows for continuously shaping a non-linear fiber-reinforced plastic article, obviating the need for any of the work to be done by hand, which may be labor intensive, not as highly reproducible, and potentially contaminating.

Abstract: A pultrusion apparatus for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced plastic article having a non-linear shape includes a mold configured to receive a partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article and to form the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article into a spirally wound shape. A drive mechanism is coupled to the mold and configured to rotate the mold such that the fiber-reinforced plastic article is taken up on the mold. An energy source is operatively associated with the mold and positioned so that the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article is cured in a spirally wound shape as the article is taken up on the longitudinally extending mold. The pultrusion apparatus allows for continuously shaping a non-linear fiber-reinforced plastic article, obviating the need for any of the work to be done by hand, which may be labor intensive, not as highly reproducible, and potentially contaminating.

Abstract: A pultrusion apparatus for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced plastic article having a non-linear shape includes a mold configured to receive a partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article and to form the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article into a spirally wound shape. A drive mechanism is coupled to the mold and configured to rotate the mold such that the fiber-reinforced plastic article is taken up on the mold. An energy source is operatively associated with the mold and positioned so that the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article is cured in a spirally wound shape as the article is taken up on the longitudinally extending mold. The pultrusion apparatus allows for continuously shaping a non-linear fiber-reinforced plastic article, obviating the need for any of the work to be done by hand, which may be labor intensive, not as highly reproducible, and potentially contaminating.