Abstract: The method and apparatus described and illustrated herein generally relate to a bypass method to provide blood flow directly from a heart chamber, such as the left ventricle, and coronary vasculature, such as a coronary artery, and a conduit especially suited for placement in the myocardium to provide such flow. The conduit is particularly useful when a blockage partially or completely obstructs the coronary artery, in which case the conduit is positioned distal to the blockage. Aspects of the present invention relate to conduits in the form of stents that have particular configurations exhibiting properties suited to placement in the myocardium.

Abstract: An electrically conductive sheath introducer is provided which functions as a unipolar electrode as well as a percutaneous vascular sheath introducer for a catheter. Typically, the catheter will include an electrode at its distal portion, and a circuit will be developed which includes the electrode of the catheter and the electrically conductive sheath introducer. Various electrical procedures are thus possible, including recording and energy delivery. The sheath introducer is rendered electrically conductive by ion process deposition treatment of the polymeric material sheath with a metallic material or materials. The resulting electrically conductive sheath introducer exhibits an incredibly low resistivity and resistance.