Abstract: The invention relates to catheter system for introducing an expandable heart valve stent (150) into the body of a patient, the catheter system comprising: a catheter tip (10) having a seat portion for accommodating the stent (150) in its collapsed state and a stent holder (15) for releasably fixing the stent (150), wherein the seat portion is constituted by a first sleeve-shaped member (11) and a second sleeve-shaped member (21), said sleeve-shaped members (11, 21) being moveable relative to each other and relative to the stent holder (15), and a catheter shaft (30) for connecting the catheter tip (10) to a handle (70).

Abstract: The invention relates to a blood pump for the invasive application within a body of a patient comprising a rotor (43, 27) which is drivable about an axis of rotation and is radially compressible or expandable and which has a hub (18, 28) and at least one impeller blade (14, 15, 16, 17, 29, 30) fastened thereto, as well as comprising a housing (19, 19?) which is compressible or expandable in the radial direction by an axial stretching or axial compression. The object of making both the rotor and the housing expandable and compressible in as simple a manner as possible is achieved in accordance with the invention in that a control body (21) is provided which passes through the hub (18) in the longitudinal direction and which is coupled to the housing on the distal side of the rotor such that it exerts pulling and/or compression forces on the housing by a movement in the longitudinal direction with respect to the housing.

Abstract: The invention relates to a radially compressible and expandable rotor for a pump having at least one impeller blade, wherein the impeller blade has an impeller blade body whose material is elastically deformable as well as at least one stiffening strut which is at least partially embedded in the material of the impeller blade body. The struts are designed suitably in size, shape and arrangement and are integrated in suitable hollow spaces of the impeller blade body for stabilizing the impeller blade. Elements with tensile strength can additionally be provided.

Abstract: The invention resides in the field of introducing fluid pumps into a lumen and relates to a system for introducing a pump into a lumen which comprises a first sheath and a pump to be introduced into the first sheath, or a system which has a pump with a distal pump unit and a shaft catheter which emerges proximally to the pump unit. According to the invention one or two sheaths are used, the distal pump unit being pulled firstly into the distal end of one sheath, in order to avoid damage to a shaft catheter. Subsequently, the sheath receiving the pump unit is transferred into a further sheath or a receiving lumen.

Abstract: To design the rotor (6, 6?, 6?, 6??, 60, 60?) as compressible in the radial direction in a fluid pump, in particular for microinvasive medical use, said rotor is configured as stretchable in its longitudinal direction (16) by push elements and pull elements acting axially on it.

Abstract: The invention relates to a compressible and expandable blade for the rotor of a fluid pump having at least two lamellae which are disposed adjacently, are pivotable respectively relative to an axis of rotation of the rotor and moveable relative to each other, and abut against each other in the expanded state of the blade such that they form together a continuous blade surface.

Abstract: A stimulation electrode lead for connecting to an electrotherapy device such as a pacemaker, a defibrillator or the like, is disclosed. The stimulation electrode lead is configured for intraluminal placement within a blood vessel or within the heart of a patient, and comprising a proximal and a distal end, an electrode lead plug at the proximal end of the stimulation electrode lead, and the stimulation electrodes in the region of the distal end of the stimulation electrode lead, said stimulation electrodes having an electrically conductive outer surface and being connected electrically to the electrode lead plug, the stimulation electrode lead having at least one distal electrode support member in the region of its distal end, said support member supporting at least one electrode and being connected by a conductor link to a distal end of a first, extended portion of the electrode lead, wherein the conductor link is preformed so that when in the relaxed state it is not extended and can be elastically extended.

Abstract: An ablation catheter for the generation of linear lesions in the myocardium is provided with an elongated catheter body and a linear, substantially cylindrical ablation electrode on the distal end of the catheter body. At least one sensing electrode is disposed in the ablation electrode, insulated therefrom and embedded in the jacket thereof.

Abstract: In order to ensure a simple structure and precise handling in the case of a catheter, in particular a bi- or unidirectionally deflectable ablation catheter, comprising a flexible guide tube (3) which extends from a gripping element (1) and which terminates in a catheter tip (6) for treating or investigating a hollow organ in a body, wherein provided for deflection purposes there is at least one draw wire (13a; 13b) which extends within the flexible guide tube (3) and which is fixed to the tip (6) of the catheter and which is movable by way of a transmission means disposed in the gripping element (1) for converting the rotary movement of a manual control wheel (7) into a longitudinal movement for the draw wire (13a; 13b), it is proposed that provided as the transmission means is a toothed drive pulley (8) which is coupled to the control wheel (7) and which correspondingly engages into the teeth of a toothed belt (9) which is guided over guide means within the gripping element (1) in such a way that the draw wi

Abstract: The invention relates to an ablation system, including an ablation catheter with a plurality of ablation electrodes (34) and a neutral electrode (36), at least one energy source (22), switching elements (26, 28) for connecting the electrodes to the energy source (22) and control elements (16, 18, 20, 24) which are connected to the switching elements (26, 28). The control elements (16, 18, 20, 24) are configured in such a way that electrode pairs made up of both ablation electrodes (34) and an ablation electrode with a neutral electrode (36) can be connected to the energy source (22) in a predetermined sequence. The invention also relates to a method for controlling the electrodes of an ablation system of this type. According to said method, electrode pairs made up of both ablation electrodes (34) and an ablation electrode with a neutral electrode (36) are connected to the energy source (22) in a predetermined sequence.

Abstract: A 4-bounce dispersive crystal monochromator reduces the bandpass of synchrotron radiation to a 10-50 meV range without sacrificing angular acceptance. The monochromator includes the combination of an asymmetrical channel-cut single crystal of lower order reflection and a symmetrical channel-cut single crystal of higher order reflection in a nested geometric configuration. In the disclosed embodiment, a highly asymmetrically cut (.alpha.=20) outer silicon crystal (4 2 2) with low order reflection is combined with a symmetrically cut inner silicon crystal (10 6 4) with high order reflection to condition a hard x-ray component (5-30 keV) of synchrotron radiation down to the .mu.eV-neV level. Each of the crystals is coupled to the combination of a positioning inchworm and angle encoder via a respective rotation stage for accurate relative positioning of the crystals and precise energy tuning of the monochromator.