Abstract: A system and method for tracking or otherwise determining positioning of an intracorporeal device is provided. The invention includes a device that may be inserted into a subject and tracked based on an imageable tag included with the device. The imageable tag is at least partially formed of a substance whose nuclei precess at a Larmor frequency different than the Larmor frequency of hydrogen when subjected to a polarizing magnetic field. MR data may be acquired from the imageable tag using an RF receiver tuned to the Larmor frequency of the substance and used to track movement of the device within the subject.

Abstract: A system and method for tracking or otherwise determining positioning of an intracorporeal device is provided. The invention includes a device that may be inserted into a subject and tracked based on an imageable tag included with the device. The imageable tag is at least partially formed of a substance whose nuclei precess at a Larmor frequency different than the Larmor frequency of hydrogen when subjected to a polarizing magnetic field. MR data may be acquired from the imageable tag using an RF receiver tuned to the Larmor frequency of the substance and used to track movement of the device within the subject.

Abstract: A system and method for tracking or otherwise determining positioning of an intracorporeal device is provided. The invention includes a device that may be inserted into a subject and tracked based on an imageable tag included with the device. The imageable tag is at least partially formed of a substance whose nuclei precess at a Larmor frequency different than the Larmor frequency of hydrogen when subjected to a polarizing magnetic field. MR data may be acquired from the imageable tag using an RF receiver tuned to the Larmor frequency of the substance and used to track movement of the device within the subject.

Abstract: The present invention provides systems and corresponding methods for autonomous robotic navigation that are capable of obtaining a volumetric image data set of the structure having a lumen, defining a volume of interest between a first point within the structure having a lumen and a second point within the structure having a lumen, creating a virtual navigation pathway for navigating a navigable device with a robotic device between the first and second points, registering the navigable device within the volume of interest, and navigating the navigable device iteratively along the virtual navigation path with the robotic device.

Abstract: The present invention provides steerable devices, such as catheters, having length, a proximal end, and a distal end that includes at least one shape memory structure incorporated into the device and configured such that graded or stepped bending of the shape memory structure may be achieved by variably heating the shape memory structure along some or all of the length of the shape memory structure to one or more transformation temperatures associated with the shape memory material either gradually or in steps, and driving devices providing the drive signal and/or energy to heat the shape memory structure to enable graded or stepped control thereof.

Abstract: The invention disclosed herein provides endovascular intervention methods that entail creating a temporary capillary block in the vasculature of at least a portion of a patient's organ, such as a hemisphere of the patient's brain, the capillary block essentially blocking blood flow through capillaries in the portion of the patient's organ, and performing the endovascular intervention. Distal embolism protection devices are also disclosed that include a blood pump and at least one of a centrifuge element, a dialysis element, a cooling element, and a filtration element. The blood pump is generally capable of drawing blood from a patient's vein, circulating the blood through each of the elements so that a characteristic of a blood component may be manipulated therewith, and perfusing the modified blood into a patient's artery. A capillary block is thereby created in the vasculature of at least a portion of a patient's organ with manipulated blood components.