Stylet

Abstract: An articulatable stapler (20) is arranged in the form of an elongated catheter having a plurality of segments (25,26,28) mounted on one end of a catheter main body (24). A stylet (64) is slidably received within the catheter main body and two intermediate segments, and may be selectively moved to articulate the segments such that the most-distal segment is either aligned with, or arranged at a substantial angle with respect to, the catheter main body portion. The most-distal segment (28) carries stapling means (30) by which the improved catheter may cause a staple to be inserted through a graft (89) into the wall of the blood vessel. The improved device also has means for selectively bending a staple (75) so as to prevent unintended separation therefrom.

Abstract: . Plant penetration by Aphis fabae (Scopoli) was recorded by the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique and followed by stylectomy during wave-forms that were suspected of indicating sieve element punctures. The severed stylets in the plant tissue were subsequently processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and sectioned either transverse or longitudinal to the stylets. Two completely serially sectioned probes from the epidermis to the phloem were reconstructed. In one probe the stylet pathway went to a sieve element and showed many empty branches of salivary sheath material. Breaks in cell walls filled with sheath material demonstrated that the majority of cells bordering the track had been punctured, which supports earlier evidence from EPGs. All types of cells showed punctures and the highest number was found inside the vascular bundle. Very few cells died, which would appear to be important for virus transmission, and in others cellular reactions remained limited to some callose formation. The route of the stylets was intercellular and passed through the secondary wall material. The role of pectinase in intercellular penetration, and previous evidence for intracellular tracks are discussed. Most sieve elements had been punctured but only one was eventually accepted. Thus, reaching a sieve element in a host plant does not automatically imply its acceptance though the reason remains unclear. Gelation of phloem proteins was shown in the stylet canal. In a second probe, plant cytological and morphological correlations with the EPG were emphasized. Probes by other aphid-plant combinations showed great similarity.

Abstract: A medical probe device for reducing tissue mass in a selected portion of the body comprises a torquable catheter having a control end and a probe end. The probe end includes a stylet guide means with a flexible tip and a tip directing means extending from the control end to the flexible tip for changing the orientation of the central axis of the stylet guide means for directing a flexible stylet outward through the stylet port and through intervening tissue to targeted tissues. A stylet is positioned in the said stylet guide means. The stylet can be an RF electrode, microwave antenna, biopsy means, fluid supply means or combination thereof. Preferably, the stylet is a non-conductive sleeve having an electrode lumen and a second lumen therein, the electrode lumen terminating at a distal port in the distal end of the non-conductive sleeve, a radiofrequency electrode being positioned in said electrode lumen for longitudinal movement therein through the distal port. The medical probe device is particularly useful for removing tissue mass from the prostate and can be used for treating BPH or benign or cancerous tumors of the prostate. The device of this invention can be used in combination with a viewing scope such as a cystoscope, endoscope, laproscope and the like, being sized to extend therethrough or it can include a viewing scope. In one construction, the flexible tip comprises a metal tube with parallel spaced-apart slots extending through the tube to a continuous longitudinal section and enclosed within a flexible sleeve, whereby the tip will preferentially bend in a plane through the axis of the tube and the continuous longitudinal section.

Abstract: This invention is a medical probe with a biopsy stylet apparatus comprising a catheter (2) having a stylet guide housing with at least one stylet port in a side thereof and a stylet guide (6) for directing a flexible stylet outward through at least one stylet port and through intervening tissue to targeted tissues. The stylet guide (6) has a biopsy sample device or other tissue manifesting device at the distal end thereof to gather tissue or perform other operations at the point of the desired tissue such as emitting electromagnetic energy as ablative power to target tissues.