Abstract: An apparatus and method for delivering a vessel plug into a wound or incision in a living patient are described. The apparatus includes an expandable porous mesh mounted at the distal end of an elongate catheter. The expandable mesh may be positioned within a blood vessel or a target organ and expanded. When the mesh member is in an expanded condition, the mesh can be positioned adjacent the opening within the vessel or organ and a vessel plug can be inserted into the wound. The expanded mesh prevents the advancement of the vessel plug into the vessel or target organ, thereby avoiding possible thrombosis or stenosis within the vessel at the wound or incision site. Occlusion of the blood vessel during treatment is avoided by providing the expandable mesh with a porous construction which allows blood or other body fluids to flow therethrough while the apparatus is being used within the body of the patient.

Abstract: The dilatation balloon catheter assembly is adapted to be inserted into a blood vessel and comprises a single catheter body having a distal end, a distal end portion, and a proximal end, and a double wall dilatation balloon assembly including an inner inflatable balloon wall and an outer balloon wall with a space therebetween, the balloon walls each having a distal end and a proximal end, and each balloon wall surrounding and being connected at both its distal and proximal ends directly or indirectly to the distal end portion of the single catheter body.

Abstract: A stent for reinforcing a vessel wall is disclosed. The stent is constructed from a single elongated wire. The wire is first bent into a series of tight bends. The wire is then rolled around a mandrel to create junctions of wire which are permanently adhered. The completed stent forms a cylindrical form which can be expanded from an initial diameter to a larger implanted diameter by application of a radially outward force from a balloon catheter or the like.

Abstract: The stent placement dilation balloon assembly comprises a catheter having a distal end, a distal end portion, and a proximal end, a balloon mounted to, about, and around the distal end portion of the catheter which has at least one opening therein communicating with the interior of the balloon, and, an elastic sleeve positioned about and around the balloon. The sleeve has an at rest diameter which is less than the width of the collapsed balloon if the collapsed balloon was allowed, when deflated, to assume a flat shape. A stent is mounted on the sleeve for placement in a vessel in a human body.

Abstract: A stent for reinforcing a vessel wall is disclosed. The stent is constructed from two elongated wires which are each bent into a series of tight bends. The two wires are permanently adhered at a first interconnection junction. The two wires are then wrapped around a mandrel repeatedly forming two opposing series of interconnections. The two wires are then permanently adhered at a second interconnection junction after a desired stent length is obtained. The completed stent forms a cylindrical form which can be expanded from an initial diameter to a larger implanted diameter by application of a radially outward force from a balloon catheter or the like.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for retrieving an object such as a stent from a subject. A catheter supports two wire loops that can be manipulated from outside the subject to engage the object. By manipulating the catheter and the wire loops, the object can be captured and drawn inside a guide catheter through which the catheter is inserted. The catheter and attached stent can then be pulled from the subject.

Abstract: A pressure-actuated valve for sealing a flow conduit. The valve comprises a housing, and a tubular resilient valve carried within the housing. The tubular valve defines a lumen extending through the housing. Means are provided for varying the pressure in the space within the housing but outside of the tubular valve. Thus, the tubular valve can be urged to collapse inwardly by specific pressure applied.

Abstract: A catheter introducer comprises a tubular sheath for inserting and guiding a catheter into living tissue. In accordance with this invention, the sheath is typically made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, with a result that the catheter introducer sheath is highly flexible and non-kinking, but it also exhibits relatively high hoop strength so that burrs, notching, and kinking can be avoided as the catheter introducer is advanced through tissue while surrounding a dilator unit, to achieve advantages not found in prior art analogs.

Abstract: The sterile sleeve/connector assembly includes a joint formed between a sterile sleeve and a connector. The sleeve is made of a tube of thin flexible material, the connector includes a hub having an annular groove therein, and the joint includes an O-ring which is positioned within a bight of an inwardly inverted end portion of the sleeve and within the groove of the connector hub. The apparatus used in forming the assembly comprises a barrel member having a lumen, a distal end and a proximal end. The barrel member has a diameter approximately equal to a diameter of the hub the connector and less than the diameter of the sleeve.

Abstract: The dilatation balloon assmebly comprises a catheter having a proximal end, a distal end and a distal end portion, the distal end portion having openings in the side wall thereof, and a dilatation balloon connected to and extending from the distal end of the catheter around and about the distal end portion of the catheter to a proximal end of the balloon which is also connected to the catheter. The balloon has at least three axially extending longitudinal creases therein whereby, when the balloon is in a deflated state, the maximum lateral extent in cross-section of the balloon is less than the diameter or lateral extent of a fully inflated balloon or a partially inflated balloon.

Abstract: A stent delivery system and method. A stent is routed to a desired position within a vessel within a subject. A delivery wire is routed out an opening in a delivery catheter and looped over a portion of the stent and then routed back inside the delivery catheter. At an extreme distal end of the stent, the wire again exits the delivery catheter, reengages the stent and is pushed back into the catheter center passageway. This compresses the stent into a form whereby the delivery catheter can be maneuvered through a vessel to position the stent. To release the stent from the delivery catheter, the delivery wire is retracted so that its distal end passes out both pair of openings in the delivery catheter allowing the stent to expand into engagement with the vessel wall.

Abstract: The mesh balloon catheter device includes a catheter having a distal end and a proximal end, a tube of woven interlaced filaments forming a tubular mesh and having a proximal end connected to the distal end of the catheter and a distal end, a flush tube or fiber optic tube extending through the catheter and the tubular mesh and fixed to the distal end of the tubular mesh, and a mechanism for moving the distal end of the tubular mesh toward the proximal end of the tubular mesh to cause the tubular mesh to balloon laterally outwardly to the shape of a mesh balloon.The moving mechanism can be realized by the flush tube or fiber optic tube connected to the distal end of the tubular mesh or by a control wire connected to the distal end of the tubular mesh and extending through the catheter.

Abstract: A stent delivery system and method. A stent is routed to a desired position within a vessel within a subject. A delivery wire is routed out an opening in a delivery catheter and looped over a portion of the stent and then routed back inside the delivery catheter. At an extreme distal end of the stent, the wire again exits the delivery catheter, reengages the stent and is pushed back into the catheter center passageway. This compresses the stent into a form whereby the delivery catheter can be maneuvered through a vessel to position the stent. To release the stent from the delivery catheter, the delivery wire is retracted so that its distal end passes out both pair of openings in the delivery catheter allowing the stent to expand into engagement with the vessel wall.

Abstract: A hemostasis valve is provided for catheters or the like, comprising an elastomeric partition valve secured in a housing. A linear slit extends through the partition valve between the major faces thereof. By this invention, the partition of the valve has at least one concave face through which the slit extends. Such a partition valve provides further improved sealing characteristics over a wide range of diameters of catheters, leads, or the like penetrating the partition valve, particularly reducing frictional resistance to catheter advancement and rotation through the valve and also reducing catheter collapse in the valve.

Abstract: The double mesh balloon catheter device comprises a catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, a double tubular mesh assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, being mounted to the distal end of the catheter and having an outer tubular mesh and an inner tubular mesh. An actuating mechanism is coupled to the proximal end of the catheter and extends through the catheter to the double tubular mesh assembly for moving the distal end thereof to effect axial contraction of the double tubular mesh assembly. Another actuating mechanism is coupled to the proximal end of the catheter and extends through the catheter to the double tubular mesh assembly for causing rotation of the inner tubular mesh relative to the outer tubular mesh.

Abstract: The improved catheter sheath introducer serves the purpose of introducing a catheter or the like into a patient's body vessel. The introducer includes a hollow housing having a pasageway extending through the proximal and distal ends of the housing so that an elongated catheter may slide through the housing from the proximal end to the distal end thereof before introduction into a body vessel. A cannula extends from the distal end of the housing and is adapted to be inserted into the body vessel and is in communication with the passageway of the housing. Thus, the catheter may slide through the distal end of the housing and then through the cannula into the body vessel. A flexible coupling connects one end of the cannula with the housing distal end in such a manner that the cannula may be angularly displaced with respect to the distal end of the housing without bending the cannula itself.

Abstract: A stent for reinforcing a vessel wall is constructed from a single elongated wire. The wire is first bent into a series of tight bends. The wire is then further bent into a sequence of loops that are connected by half hitch junctions and interconnections which are either aligned or spiral around a circumference of the stent. The completed stent forms a cylindrical form which can be expanded from a initial diameter to a larger implanted diameter by application of a radially outward force from a balloon catheter or the like.

Abstract: The sterile sleeve/connector assembly includes a joint formed between a sterile sleeve and a connector. The sleeve is made of a tube of thin flexible material, the connector includes a hub having an annular groove therein, and the joint includes an O-ring which is positioned within a bight of an inwardly inverted end portion of the sleeve and within the groove of the connector hub. The apparatus used in forming the assembly comprises a barrel member having a lumen, a distal end and a proximal end. The barrel member has a diameter approximately equal to a diameter of the hub the connector and less than the diameter of the sleeve.

Abstract: A hemostasis valve is provided for catheters or the like, comprising an elastomeric partition valve secured in a housing. A linear slit extends through the partition valve between the major faces thereof. By this invention, the slit defines a line at each major face, with the respective lines at the major faces being in non-alignment and thus defining an angle with respect to each other. The slit defines at least one generally helical slit section between the lines of the major faces, within the partition valve. Such a partition valve exhibits better sealing characteristics over a wide range of diameters of catheters, leads, or the like penetrating the partition valve, as well as other advantages.