1. A medical device comprising:
an elongate member;
a piercing catheter comprising a catheter with a longitudinal axis and proximal and distal ends and a hollow chisel having a chisel passage therein, with proximal and distal ends, having a tip at the chisel’s distal end, wherein the chisel’s proximal end is proximate to the catheter’s distal end, wherein at least a portion of the elongate element is disposed within the chisel passage and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the piercing catheter, and wherein the tip is movable, in response to selective axial displacement of the elongate member, between a first closed position and a second open position; and
a re-entry catheter comprising a proximal and distal end and a side port near the re-entry catheter’s distal end, wherein the piercing catheter or elongate member can move through the side port,
wherein the re-entry catheter comprises a ramp near its distal end, and wherein the ramp is biased such that when the ramp is actuated, the side port opens and the ramp directs the piercing catheter or elongate member through the side port, and when the ramp is not actuated, the side port is closed, and
wherein the ramp is not actuated when the distal ends of the elongate member and piercing catheter are distal to the side port, and the ramp is actuated when the distal ends of the elongate member and piercing catheter are proximal to the side port.
2. The medical device of claim 1, wherein when the elongate member is pushed through and out of the distal end of the piercing catheter, the piercing catheter becomes a support catheter.
3. The medical device system of claim 2, wherein the support catheter is of a substantially rounded cross section along its length.
4. The medical device of claim 1, wherein when the elongate member is removed from the chisel passage, the chisel is actuated to form a sharp tip.
5. The medical device system of claim 1, wherein the ramp comprises a shape memory material.
6. The medical device system of claim 5, wherein the shape memory material is nitinol.
7. The medical device system of claim 1, wherein the elongate member is a guidewire, a catheter, or fiber.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:
a semiconductor substrate;
a pixel formed of a photoelectric-converting element;
a selection transistor for reading signal electrical charges from said photoelectric-converting element;
a pixel forming region composed of said pixel and said selection transistor; and
a peripheral circuit forming region, said pixel forming region and said peripheral circuit forming region being formed on said same semiconductor substrate, wherein a first element isolation portion is formed by an element isolation layer containing insulating layers buried into said semiconductor substrate in said peripheral circuit forming region, a second element isolation portion is composed of an element isolation region formed within said semiconductor substrate and an element isolation layer projected in the upper direction from said semiconductor substrate in said pixel forming region and the element isolation layer of said first element isolation portion and the element isolation layer of said second element isolation portion are formed so as to contain the same insulating layers.
2. The solid-state image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein said first element isolation portion has a depth ranging of from 150 nm to 450 nm within said semiconductor substrate, said element isolation layer of said second element isolation portion having a depth less than 50 nm within said semiconductor substrate and a thickness ranging of from 50 nm to 150 nm.
3. The solid-state image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein said photoelectric-converting element is formed so as to be extended under said element isolation layer of said second element isolation portion.
4. The solid-state image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein said first element isolation portion has a minimum isolation width smaller than that of said second element isolation portion.