Abstract: A blood vessel dilatation apparatus includes an inner tube having a lumen; an outer tube forming a lumen between the outer tube and an outer surface of the inner tube; a dilatation member; a first opening provided at a rear end portion of the inner tube and communicating with the lumen; a second opening provided at a rear end portion of the outer tube and communicating with the lumen. The outer tube includes a front-side tube and a rear-side tube fixed to the front-side tube. The front-side tube has a diameter changing portion whose outer and inner diameters decrease toward its front end. A front portion of the rear-side tube is connected with an inner surface of a rear end portion of the front-side tube. An inner surface of the front portion of the rear-side tube is connected with the inner tube.

Abstract: A stent in the form of a generally tubular member has a diameter allowing for insertion into a body passageway and is radially expandable upon application of an outward force. A series of annular units are axially arranged to construct the stent. Each annular unit includes a plurality of generally ellipsoidal or polygonal elements equiangularly arranged around the stent axis, the elements being axially elongate and having a center opening. A tie member connects opposed ends of adjacent elements. Adjacent annular units are interconnected at their tie members by a connecting member.

Abstract: A stent in the form of a generally tubular member has a diameter allowing for insertion into a body passageway and is radially expandable upon application of an outward force. A series of annular units are axially arranged to construct the stent. Each annular unit includes a plurality of generally ellipsoidal or polygonal elements equiangularly arranged around the stent axis, the elements being axially elongate and having a center opening. A tie member connects opposed ends of adjacent elements. Adjacent annular units are interconnected at their tie members by a connecting member.

Abstract: A blood vessel dilator so thin in outside dameter as the "on the wire" type catheter retaining a sufficiently wide liquid lumen and highly manipulatable at branched parts of blood vessels by a separately turnable guide wire and hence readily inserted even into narrow perpheral blood vessels.

Abstract: The catheter of the present invention comprises a body portion, a distal portion and an internal lumen and at least the above body portion includes a super-elastic metallic tube. This catheter has a high efficiency of transmitting the pushing force given at its proximal end (pushability) and a high torque transmission efficiency. Furthermore, since the body portion of the catheter includes a super-elastic metallic tube, the wall thickness of the body portion can be made sufficiently thin and a catheter with a smaller diameter can be formed.

Abstract: A catheter equipped with an expansible member for expanding a constricted portion inside a blood vessel, comprises an inner tube having a first lumen whose tip is open; an outer tube disposing coaxially with the inner tube, having the tip thereof at a position recessed by a predetermined length from the tip of the inner tube and forming a second lumen between it and the outer surface of the inner tube; a contractible or foldable expansible member having the tip portion fitted to the inner tube and the proximal portion fitted to the outer tube, and communicating with the second lumen near the proximal portion; a first opening communicating with the first lumen disposed at the proximal portion of the inner tube; a second opening communicating with the second lumen disposed at the proximal portion of the outer tube; and a rigidity imparting member disposed in at least one of the inner and outer tubes so as to extend in an axial direction.

Abstract: In a blood perfusion system comprising a dilation catheter defining a lumen and including a dilating member at the leading end, and a sheath defining a bore through which the dilation catheter is inserted to define a blood intake gap between the outer surface of the dilation catheter and the sheath bore and including a transverse bore branched from the sheath bore, a tube is connected at one end to the transverse bore and at another end to the lumen of the dilation catheter at a trailing end. When the sheath having the dilation catheter inserted therein is set in a blood vessel, a pump in the tube operates to take blood into the blood intake gap in the sheath, pass through the tube and the dilation catheter lumen, and feed back to the periphery of a lesion through the open leading end of the dilation catheter. The patient's own fresh blood can be injected without the need for a further cutdown or puncture for blood intake.

Abstract: Disclosed are an instrument for expanding a tubular organ such as a blood vessel and for keeping the tubular organ expanded for a predetermined period of time, and a catheter for mounting said instrument at a desired position within the tubular organ, said catheter being capable of moving and recovering the instrument mounted within the tubular organ. The instrument is formed of a two-way shape memory alloy and expands or shrinks in the radial direction, in accordance with changes in temperature. At least one side hole is formed at the distal end portion of the catheter, on which the instrument is detachably mounted.