Abstract: A ligating band dispenser for attachment to the distal end of a ligating device having proximal and distal ends with a lumen extending therebetween and being adapted for supporting a plurality of ligating bands includes a support for attachment to the distal end of the ligating device and for carrying the plurality of ligating bands and having a passage communicating with the lumen; and a dispenser including a first displacement element looped about each of the bands in series attached to the support and extending through the passage and lumen whereby proximal motion of the operator element from the proximal end of the ligating device transfers individually the most distal ligating band off the distal end of the support.

Abstract: A subcutaneous safety catheter assembly includes a flexible catheter having an inner wall including a hollow stiffening member which is stiff in the longitudinal direction and flexible laterally; a needle having a sharp point at one end and a grip at the other and being adapted to being disposed in the hollow stiffening member with the sharp point extending beyond the distal end of the member; and a needle guard at the proximal end of the member for securely engaging the needle and shielding the sharp point of the needle upon its withdrawal from the catheter.

Abstract: A catheter connection system is defined by a rigid, tubular stem attached at a proximal end thereof to a medical device. The stem has a plurality of comparably configured engagement barbs encircling and radially, outwardly extending on an exterior surface of the stem. A locking barb also encircles and radially, outwardly extends on the surface of the stem between the medical device and the engagement barbs. A rigid first locking sleeve is provided for inwardly compressing a portion of a body wall of a silicone catheter against the locking barb on the stem when the stem is received in the lumen of the silicone catheter to create a mechanical joinder and liquid-tight seal between the silicone catheter and the stem. In the alternative, a compression sleeve housed within a rigid second locking sleeve is provided for compressing a body wall of a polyurethane catheter against the engagement barbs on the stem to create a mechanical joinder and liquid-tight seal between the polyurethane catheter and the stem.

Abstract: Apparatus for use in the diagnosis and treatment of strictures in a biliary duct, urinary tract or pancreatic tract. The apparatus includes a dual lumen catheter device. One lumen size is sized to accommodate a guidewire. A second, parallel lumen has a non-circular cross-section and carries a cytology brush at one end that couples through an operator to a manipulator at another end. The cytology brush has an effective diameter that is greater than the diameter of the catheter device. Brush cytology samples are obtained without removing the guidewire from a stricture and without introducing any relative motion between the guidewire and the catheter. As the cytology brush is retracted into the non-circular lumen, its bristles compact around the operator for storage within the lumen. A predetermined arrangement of markers at the distal end of the catheter facilitates the measurement of stricture length by direct endoscopic visualization.

Abstract: A medical device and a method for its manufacture. The function of the medical device requires exposure of the device to the tissue of a patient. The device has a tissue-exposed portion constructed to release an agent that inhibits adverse reaction to the presence of the device defined by a polymeric surface-layer overlying in a supported manner a polymer defining a reservoir. The reservoir incorporates the agent in a manner that permits substantially free outward release of the agent from the reservoir and the overlying layer defines metering outward passages constructed to control the outward migration of the agent to enable prolonged release of the agent from the surface of the medical device to prevent the adverse reaction due to the presence of the device.

Abstract: A catheter and a method for making the same, the catheter having a radiopaque marker ring placed within a tube, whereby the radiopaque ring is inserted into an expanded section of the tube, followed by the relaxation of the tube to its original dimensions, where the ring inner-diameter is equal or greater than the tube inner-diameter, and the ring outer-diameter is less than the tube outer-diameter, such that said inner surface of said ring is exposed to said lumen of said tube such that said inner surface provides a pathway through which other devices pass through said tube without obstruction, and said outer surface of said ring is embedded within said tube, under conditions such that the bump on the outer surface of said tube which would otherwise be present is reduced to allow said tube to pass through other devices without obstruction, said embedding condition also minimizing the overall thickness of said tube.

Abstract: A medical device and a method for its manufacture. The function of the medical device requires exposure of the device to the tissue of a patient. The device has a tissue-exposed portion constructed to release an agent that inhibits adverse reaction to the presence of the device defined by a polymeric surface-layer overlying in a supported manner a polymer defining a reservoir. The reservoir incorporates the agent in a manner that permits substantially free outward release of the agent from the reservoir and the overlying layer defines metering outward passages constructed to control the outward migration of the agent to enable prolonged release of the agent from the surface of the medical device to prevent the adverse reaction due to the presence of the device.

Abstract: Apparatus for use in the diagnosis and treatment of strictures in a biliary duct, urinary tract or pancreatic tract. The apparatus includes a dual lumen catheter device. One lumen size is sized to accommodate a guidewire. A second, parallel lumen has a non-circular cross-section and carries a cytology brush at one end that couples through an operator to a manipulator at another end. The cytology brush has an effective diameter that is greater than the diameter of the catheter device. Brush cytology samples are obtained without removing the guidewire from a stricture and without introducing any relative motion between the guidewire and the catheter. As the cytology brush is retracted into the non-circular lumen, its bristles compact around the operator for storage within the lumen. A predetermined arrangement of markers at the distal end of the catheter facilitates the measurement of stricture length by direct endoscopic visualization.

Abstract: Apparatus for dispensing a plurality of ligating bands individually and sequentially. A support, attached to the distal end of an endoscope, carries the plurality of ligating bands at axially spaced positions along an exterior surface. The distal ends of each set of independent displacement filaments each ligating band releasably attach to the distal edge of the dispenser. Each filament loops around the corresponding ligating band and returns past the distal edge of the dispenser and through the endoscope to the proximal end thereof. When a physician pulls a set of filaments proximally, the loop in each filament advances the corresponding ligating band off the distal edge of the dispenser.

Abstract: An applicator for applying a sheet of surgical material, e.g., a surgical mesh, to internal body tissue includes a delivery tube, a deployment tube slidably received within the delivery tube, and a shaft or irrigation tube slidably received within the deployment tube. An expandable spreader tip is connected between the distal ends of the shaft and the deployment tube. The spreader tip is collapsed and inserted in the delivery tube with the surgical mesh. The applicator is inserted through a trocar tube into a body cavity and the spreader tip is exposed by retracting the delivery tube relative to the deployment tube and shaft. The applicator has a first actuator for urging the spreader tip and surgical mesh into engagement with the tissue as the deployment tube is retracted and a second actuator for advancing the deployment tube relative to the shaft to expand the spreader tip to apply the surgical mesh to the tissue.

Abstract: A tissue manipulator is provided which is insertable through an endoscopic tube to enable a surgeon to manipulate tissue inside a body cavity. The tissue manipulator includes an expandable frame comprising a plurality of flexible, interconnected frame members which are adapted to expand laterally outward into a spatula-like platform for engaging the tissue. The platform is selectively expandable into a tulip-shaped configuration and a bulb-shaped configuration to manipulate large body organs such as the liver, lungs or intestines without risk of injury to such organs. The platform is infinitely adjustable in size from its collapsed configuration to its expanded configuration.

Abstract: A tissue manipulator is provided which is insertable through an endoscopic tube to enable a surgeon to manipulate tissue inside a body cavity. The endoscopic tissue manipulator includes an expandable tissue manipulating frame adapted to expand transversely through a longitudinal slot in a support tube to provide a spatula-shaped platform which can be manipulated by rotation of the support tube about its longitudinal axis to engage and displace large body organs away from a desired surgical site in a body cavity. The frame consists of a plurality of flexible frame members or wires adapted to flex laterally outward through the longitudinal slot in the support tube into a bow-shaped configuration overlapping the other frame members or wires of the spatula-shaped platform. The instrument can be provided with a single tissue manipulating frame or a pair of frames which are expandable through separate longitudinal slots in the support tube to provide a pair of spatula-shaped platforms to engage the tissue.

Abstract: A plastic catheter and a method for making the same, the catheter having radiopaque marker ring placed within a tube, whereby the radiopaque ring is inserted into the expanded section of the tube, followed by the relaxation of the tube to its original dimensions, such that there is no protusion of the ring on the tube inner-diameter, where the ring inner-diameter is equal or greater than the tube inner-diameter, and the ring outer-diameter protrudes a distance into the tube but not beyond the thickness of the tube; thereby, creating a smooth outer surface and an obstruction free inner surface.