Abstract: A catheter includes a shaft having a first lumen inside thereof, an expansion/contraction portion that is disposed on a distal end portion of the shaft and is expandable and contractible in a radial direction, and an actuation portion that expands and contracts the expansion/contraction portion. The expansion/contraction portion has a fixed portion fixed to the shaft, a sliding portion capable of sliding in a longitudinal direction of the shaft on an outer peripheral face of the shaft, and a suspension portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the shaft that connects the fixed portion with the sliding portion. When the sliding portion is slid toward the fixed portion by the actuation portion, the suspension portion expands in a radial direction of the shaft.

Abstract: A catheter comprises a shaft, an extended shaft portion, and an electrode disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft. The shaft has a first lumen and a second lumen that is arranged adjacent to the first lumen. The extended shaft portion is provided on a distal end portion of the shaft, has the first lumen, and has a distal end portion located on a distal end side of a distal end portion of the second lumen, in the shaft.

Abstract: Remote-controlled electronic equipment with a transmitting function is disclosed which comprises a remote-control signal receiving section for receiving a remote-control signal containing a device address of a desired piece of electronic equipment to be controlled and command information on a desired instruction, and a communication section for transmitting a signal frame assembled on the basis of decoded data of the remote-control signal. Further disclosed is a remote-control signal transmitter for use in controlling the electronic equipment wherein a remote-control signal transmitted from the transmitter contains a device address of a desired piece of the electronic equipment to be controlled and command information on a desired instruction.

Abstract: A communication control method for use in a communication system including a plurality of communication control apparatuses interconnected through an information transmission path, each of the communication control apparatuses including a packet transmission/reception unit, a timer unit and a controller unit. When a first communication control apparatus has become unable to perform communication due to accidental power-off or a power supply failure or the like in the course of communication with a second communication control apparatus (which has been brought into a locked state by the first communication control apparatus), the invention prevents the second communication control apparatus from being left permanently in the locked state.

Abstract: In cases where a first communication control unit locks a second communication control unit to communicate with the second unit, the first unit stores a data representing a time remaining until the locking of the second unit is released. In these cases, the second unit stores a data representing an address of the first unit as a lock address corresponding to an address of a unit which locks the second unit. In cases where a third communication control unit tries to communicate with the second unit and fails the communication with the second unit, the third unit connects with the second unit and reads out the data representative of the lock address from the second unit, and then the third unit connects with the first unit in response to the lock address and reads out the data representative of the lock remaining time from the first unit. The third unit retries to communicate with the second unit after the lock remaining time elapses.