Abstract: A medical probe device comprises a catheter having a stylet guide housing with one or more stylet ports in a side wall thereof and a stylet guide for directing a flexible stylet outward through the stylet port and through intervening tissue at a preselected, adjustable angle to a target tissue. The total catheter assembly includes a stylet guide lumen communicating with the stylet port and a stylet positioned in said stylet guide lumen for longitudinal movement from the port through intervening tissue to a target tissue. The stylet can be an electrical conductor enclosed within a non-conductive layer, the electrical conductor being a radiofrequency electrode. Preferably, the non-conductive layer is a sleeve which is axially moveable on the electrical conductor to expose a selected portion of the electrical conductor surface in the target tissue. The stylet can also be a microwave antenna. The stylet can also be a hollow tube for delivering treatment fluid to the target tissue.

Abstract: A steering mechanism including a steering shaft coupled to a controller which includes a handle and apparatus for manipulating the distal end of the steering shaft. The steering shaft includes a flexible coiled spring having a lead spring fixed in position with respect to a distal end thereof in the distal end of the steering shaft. One or more steering wires is affixed at the distal ends thereof to the lead spring. The steering wires extend through the steering shaft to the controller, and the steering apparatus of the controller is used to place tension on one or both of the steering wires. The attachment of the distal ends of the steering wires to the lead spring may be opposite one another or may be offset for providing greater maneuverability.

Abstract: A steering mechanism including a steering shaft coupled to a controller which includes a handle and apparatus for manipulating the distal end of the steering shaft. The steering shaft includes a flexible coiled spring having a lead spring fixed in position with respect to a distal end thereof in the distal end of the steering shaft. One or more steering wires is affixed at the distal ends thereof to the lead spring. The steering wires extend through the steering shaft to the controller, and the steering apparatus of the controller is used to place tension on one or both of the steering wires. The attachment of the distal ends of the steering wires to the lead spring may be opposite one another or may be offset for providing greater maneuverability.

Abstract: A steering mechanism including a steering shaft coupled to a controller which includes a handle and apparatus for manipulating the distal end of the steering shaft. The steering shaft includes a flexible coiled spring having a lead spring fixed in position with respect to a distal end thereof in the distal end of the steering shaft. One or more steering wires is affixed at the distal ends thereof to the lead spring. The steering wires extend through the steering shaft to the controller, and the steering apparatus of the controller is used to place tension on one or both of the steering wires. The attachment of the distal ends of the steering wires to the lead spring may be opposite one another or may be offset for providing greater maneuverability.

Abstract: A steering mechanism including a steering shaft coupled to a controller which includes a handle and apparatus for manipulating the distal end of the steering shaft. The steering shaft includes a flexible coiled spring having a lead spring fixed in position with respect to a distal end thereof in the distal end of the steering shaft. One or more steering wires is affixed at the distal ends thereof to the lead spring. The steering wires extend through the steering shaft to the controller, and the steering apparatus of the controller is used to place tension on one or both of the steering wires. The attachment of the distal ends of the steering wires to the lead spring may be opposite one another or may be offset for providing greater maneuverability.

Abstract: A steering mechanism including a steering shaft coupled to a controller which includes a handle and apparatus for manipulating the distal end of the steering shaft. The steering shaft includes a flexible coiled spring having a lead spring fixed in position with respect to a distal end thereof in the distal end of the steering shaft. One or more steering wires is affixed at the distal ends thereof to the lead spring. The steering wires extend through the steering shaft to the controller, and the steering apparatus of the controller is used to place tension on one or both of the steering wires. The attachment of the distal ends of the steering wires to the lead spring may be opposite one another or may be offset for providing greater maneuverability.

Abstract: A steering mechanism including a steering shaft coupled to a controller which includes a handle and apparatus for manipulating the distal end of the steering shaft. The steering shaft includes a flexible coiled spring having a lead spring fixed in position with respect to a distal end thereof in the distal end of the steering shaft. One or more steering wires is affixed at the distal ends thereof to the lead spring. The steering wires extend through the steering shaft to the controller, and the steering apparatus of the controller is used to place tension on one or both of the steering wires. The attachment of the distal ends of the steering wires to the lead spring may be opposite one another or may be offset for providing greater maneuverability.

Abstract: The apparatus comprises a probe having a tip portion, a first electrode mounted on a terminal free end of the tip portion and a second electrode spaced along the tip portion from the first electrode for supplying a reference potential. The probe is constructed so as to hold the first electrode in contact with tissue of an in vivo beating heart with a positive pressure without causing macroscopic damage to the heart tissue while orienting the probe such that the second electrode is spaced from the heart tissue.A stylet is retractably mounted within the probe, for allowing a physician to maneuver the probe through a vein or the like. Once the probe is in position, it may be replaced by a probe of a different shape. The probe may also be retracted while being inserted, for preventing internal injury to the patient. The stylet may have a noncircular cross-section for restricting directions in which it can bend.

Abstract: The apparatus comprises a probe having a tip portion, a first electrode mounted on a terminal free end of the tip portion and a second electrode spaced along the tip portion from the first electrode for supplying a reference potential. The probe is constructed so as to hold the first electrode in contact with tissue of an in vivo beating heart with a positive pressure without causing macroscopic damage to the heart tissue while orienting the probe such that the second electrode is spaced from the heart tissue.A stylet is retractably mounted within the probe, for allowing a physician to maneuver the probe through a vein or the like. Once the probe is in position, it may be replaced by a probe of a different shape. The probe may also be retracted while being inserted, for preventing internal injury to the patient. The stylet may have a noncircular cross-section for restricting directions in which it can bend.

Abstract: An IV filter and pump assembly having first and second bodies secured into a unitary assembly. The first and second bodies provide a chamber. One of the bodies has an opening therein in communication with said chamber and an inlet port therein. The other of the bodies has an outport therein. The inlet and outlet ports are in communication with the chamber. An inlet valve controls the flow of liquid through the inlet port and an outlet valve controls the flow of liquid through the outlet port. A hydrophobic filter is carried by the unitary assembly and is in communication with the upper portion of said chamber for venting to ambient small quantities of air in said chamber. An actuator supplies a pumping action to the liquid in the chamber so that liquid is caused to be moved out of the chamber through the outlet valve and into the chamber through the inlet valve.

Abstract: A kit of instruments for percutaneous introduction of a catheter into a major blood vessel of a human patient, including a hollow needle assembly having a proximal end adapted to be inserted through the skin of a patient into the blood vessel, a guide wire adapted to be inserted through the needle into the blood vessel, and a catheter having a proximal end adapted to be inserted into the blood vessel over the guide wire after said needle is withdrawn over said guide wire. The hollow needle assembly includes a first small gauge hollow needle having a beveled needle point on the front end thereof, and at least a second hollow needle mounted concentrically over the first needle and having a sharp chisel-shaped front edge located a moderate distance behind the point on said first needle.

Abstract: A system for filling and subsequently producing inflation and deflation of a balloon-type dilating catheter assembly utilized in performing a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty procedure. Separate primary and secondary fluid pump assemblies are provided for isolating the working pump fluid in the primary assembly from the radiocontrast medium filling the secondary assembly. The primary fluid pump assembly includes a primary pump chamber having a flexible diaphragm forming one wall thereof and a hydraulic cylinder including a piston for supplying fluid under pressure to the pump chamber. The pump assembly has been filled with a relatively incompressible liquid while the piston in the cylinder is held in an intermediate fill position and the diaphragm is held substantially flat to enable the primary fluid pump assembly to produce both convex and concave shapes of the diaphragm as the piston is moved between forward and rearward position.