OK, so I cleared up some of the confusion about the HAI pump issues I have discussed in this thread. There was a bit of misinformation in the New York Times article. I had to deduce the information that I came up with from various conversations here, on Facebook, and from medical literature that someone emailed to me.
Apparently, Medtronic started making pumps with catheters decades ago. The SynchroMed EL (programmable) and IsoMed (constant flow) pumps appear to have been designed to infuse drugs to many parts of the body, not just the spine. I have heard of people who have CC-liver cancer who have had Medtronic's SynchroMed EL pump implanted. These pumps are not compatible with MRIs as they were designed and tested for under 2 and 1.5 Tesla. The majority of MRI machines these days are 3 Tesla. The SynchroMed EL pump seems to be an old, discontinued model, as the website only shows SynchroMed II which is only FDA approved for use in the spine and does not have a catheter. It appears that the IsoMed pump is also no longer in production. Hence, Medtronic does not currently make pumps with catheters and thus the need for adaptation of SynchroMed II with Codman catheter. I would like to know exactly who is making the adaptation. There is nothing on Medtronic's website about it. Searching the google today to see what I can find.