13252results about How to "Easy to insert" patented technology

A coated surgical fastener is provided for an easy visualization within tissue. The coated surgical fastener includes a core and a relatively non-reflective coating applied about the core. There is also disclosed an illuminated staple cartridge for use with a surgical stapling device having a light source. The illuminated staple cartridge includes a transparent insert and a relatively nontransparent U-shaped outer channel at least partially surrounding the transparent insert. Windows formed in sides of the U-shaped outer channel allow defined amounts of light to project from the sides of the illuminated staple cartridge.

A flexible fiberoptic endoscope has an insertion member with a distal end portion split longitudinally into a plurality of independently operable working segments each provided with at least one longitudinally extending working channel. Visualization optics are provided in the working segments or a separate central segment surrounded by the working segments. A sheath temporarily joins the working segments to one another during an introduction procedure. The sheath is removed upon insertion of the endoscope, so that the working segments may be / separated from one another and independently maneuvered via proximal control heads to facilitate the performance of an endoscopic surgical procedure.

Instrument introducers are disclosed which facilitate the insertion of a surgical instrument into a cavity or a body of a patient. In one embodiment, the instrument introducer includes a hollow elongate cylindrical body including a distal end portion terminating in a distal edge and a proximal end portion, the cylindrical body defining a central longitudinal axis, and an elastomeric cap secured to the distal end portion of the cylindrical body, the cap including a distal end wall having an outer terminal edge and an annular side wall depending from the outer terminal edge thereof. The distal end wall includes an aperture formed therein, wherein a center of the aperture is coaxially aligned with the central longitudinal axis.

An interchangeable transducer for use with an ultrasound medical system having a keyless adaptor and capable of operating in a wet environment. The interchangeable transducer has an adaptor for engaging a medical system, an ultrasound transducer and additional electronics to provide a self-contained insert for easy replacement and usage in a variety of medical applications. A slip ring spacer is also disclosed, the slip ring spacer for use with a pancake slip ring having a base and flange configuration to form one or more channels around each contact ring of the pancake slip ring. The channels provide fluid isolation around each connector to help reduce electronic cross talk and contact corrosion between the connector pads of the slip ring while the slip ring is immersed in a wet environment.

There is disclosed medical apparatus of the type for use in surgery such as transanal endoscopic microsurgery, as well as methods of providing access to, inspecting and enabling surgery within a body passage. In one embodiment of the invention, medical apparatus in the form of a rectal expander (10) is disclosed, the expander (10) being adapted for location at least partly within a body passage such as the rectum (12) of a patient (14), the expander (10) having a leading end (18) and an access area in the form of an opening (20) for access from the expander (10) into the rectum (12), at least part of the opening (20) being spaced from the leading end (18), and the expander (10) being controllably movable between collapse and expansion positions, for expanding the rectum (12).

A glucose monitoring device suitable for use in total darkness or in limited light environment. The glucose monitoring device comprises a housing, which encloses the components of the device that determine the blood glucose level of a blood sample on a test strip. The exterior surface of the housing comprises a phosphorescent material. The portion of the test strip where the blood sample is to be applied can be illuminated by a light. The area of the glucose monitoring device where the test strip is inserted into the device can also be illuminated by a light. The display of the device, i. e., the area of the glucose monitoring device where the result is read, is also illuminated by a light.

Sinusitis and other disorders of the ear, nose and throat are diagnosed and / or treated using minimally invasive approaches with flexible or rigid instruments. Various methods and devices are used for remodeling or changing the shape, size or configuration of a sinus ostium or duct or other anatomical structure in the ear, nose or throat; implanting a device, cells or tissues; removing matter from the ear, nose or throat; delivering diagnostic or therapeutic substances or performing other diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Introducing devices (e.g., guide catheters, tubes, guidewires, elongate probes, other elongate members) may be used to facilitate insertion of working devices (e.g. catheters e.g. balloon catheters, guidewires, tissue cutting or remodeling devices, devices for implanting elements like stents, electrosurgical devices, energy emitting devices, devices for delivering diagnostic or therapeutic agents, substance delivery implants, scopes etc.) into the paranasal sinuses or other structures in the ear, nose or throat.

A coated surgical fastener is provided for an easy visualization within tissue. The coated surgical fastener includes a core and a relatively non-reflective coating applied about the core. There is also disclosed an illuminated staple cartridge for use with a surgical stapling device having a light source. The illuminated staple cartridge includes a transparent insert and a relatively nontransparent U-shaped outer channel at least partially surrounding the transparent insert. Windows formed in sides of the U-shaped outer channel allow defined amounts of light to project from the sides of the illuminated staple cartridge.

A system for percutaneously introducing a prosthetic valve into a patient's vasculature comprises a balloon dilatation catheter, a prosthetic valve mounted coaxial to the dilatation balloon, and a pusher member comprising a longitudinally extending tubular member encompassing the shaft of the catheter. The distal end of the pusher member preferably corresponds to the proximal end of the stent component of the prosthetic valve. The pusher member provides enhanced longitudinal pushability for facilitating advancement of the prosthetic valve to a treatment site. The system is well-suited for advancing a prosthetic valve or other medical device through an introducer sheath having a relatively small inner diameter. The introducer sheath may be formed with a tapered proximal end portion for receiving the prosthetic valve and for reducing a diameter of the prosthetic valve during advancement therethrough.

An endoscopic stapler comprises a first jaw and a second jaw. The first jaw includes structure for retaining a plurality of staples. The first jaw and second jaw are mounted to permit pivotal movement of the first and second jaws relative to one another. The endoscopic stapler also comprises at least one clamp member for clamping tissue and pulling the tissue into a position between the first jaw and the second jaw to facilitate inserting at least one staple of the plurality of staples into the tissue. A first handle is operably coupled with the first jaw such that movement of the first handle effects delivery of the at least one staple of the plurality of staples to the tissue. A second handle is operably coupled with the second jaw and the at least one clamp member such that movement of the second handle effects movement of the second jaw and movement of the at least one clamp member.

An endoscopic treatment system is designed to suture or resect a lesion while ensuring the ease of insertion into a deep region in the large intestine. The endoscopic treatment system comprises an endoscope and a therapeutic instruments insertion aid into which the endoscope is inserted. The endoscopic treatment system further comprises: a pair of clamp forceps that clamps and lifts a living-body tissue; a lateral hole formed in the therapeutic instruments insertion aid and used to control the position of the living-body tissue clamped and lifted by the pair of clamp forceps or to control the lifting thereof; a ligature used to ligate the living-body tissue whose position or lifting is controlled by the lateral hole; and a cutter used to resect the living-body tissue at a position between a region ligated with the ligature and a region clamped and lifted with the pair of clamp forceps.

A smoking device for generating and releasing smoking vapor free from contamination into the mouth of a user comprising a mouthpiece for providing vapor for inhalation to a user including a tubular casing containing a heater for heating a smoking substance at a substantially constant low temperature by regulating the flow of fuel by a thermal regulator and further having means for visual indication of the operation of the device.

The present invention relates to a transdermal drug delivery system comprising a dermal drug delivery patch and a heating element compartment securable to the dermal drug delivery patch. A freely transferrable heating element is securable within the heating element compartment. A drug can be administered transdermally using the present invention by placing the dermal drug delivery patch upon a patient's skin at an administration site. A heating element compartment is secured to the dermal drug delivery patch and a freely transferrable heating element is placed within the heating element compartment. The heating element provides controlled heat to the dermal drug patch and the patient's skin aid thereby improves dermal drug administration.

The present invention relates to circular anastomosis stapler and kits comprising reinforcing buttress materials and fixation tools that are slidably installed on the anvil shaft of such staplers which provides a temporary mechanical fixation of a reinforcing buttress to the anvil surface of a circular stapler during the insertion of the anvil into the tubular tissue. When the anvil, loaded with the buttress, is in the desired location, the fixation tool is pulled back along the anvil shaft and removed. The shaft is then connected to the stapling head and the stapling is performed. The present invention also relates to methods for using the kits and devices therein.

A smoking device for generating and releasing smoking vapor free from contamination into the mouth of a user comprising a mouthpiece for providing vapor for inhalation to a user including a tubular casing containing a heater for heating a smoking substance at a substantially constant low temperature by regulating the flow of fuel by a thermal regulator and further having means for visual indication of the operation of the device.

A device for the transvascular implantation and fixation of prosthetic heart valves having a self-expanding heart valve stent (10) with a prosthetic heart valve (11) at its proximal end is introducible into a patient's main artery. With the objective of optimizing such a device to the extent that the prosthetic heart valve (11) can be implanted into a patient in a minimally-invasive procedure, to ensure optimal positioning accuracy of the prosthesis (11) in the patient's ventricle, the device includes a self-expanding positioning stent (20) introducible into an aortic valve positioned within a patient. The positioning stent is configured separately from the heart valve stent (10) so that the two stents respectively interact in their expanded states such that the heart valve stent (10) is held by the positioning stent (20) in a position in the patient's aorta relative the heart valve predefinable by the positioning stent (20).

A spinal implant may be used to stabilize a portion of a spine. The implant may promote bone growth between adjacent vertebrae that fuses the vertebrae together. An implant may include an opening through a height of a body of the implant. The body of the implant may include curved sides. A top and / or a bottom of the implant may include protrusions that contact and / or engage vertebral surfaces to prevent backout of the implant from the disc space. A variety of instruments may be used to prepare a disc space and insert an implant. The instruments may include, but are not limited to, a distractor, a rasp, and one or more guides. The implant and instruments may be supplied in an instrument kit.

A linking element for a spinal fixing system is designed to link at least two implantable connecting assemblies. The linking element consists at least partly of a support made of polymeric material and a rod, bent or not, substantially coaxial with the support. The invention also concerns a spinal fixing system comprising at least two implantable connecting assemblies linked by at least one linking element of the invention.

An intervertebral implant for fusing vertebrae is disclosed. The implant has a body with curved, substantially parallel posterior and anterior faces separated by two narrow implant ends, superior and inferior faces having a plurality of undulating surfaces for contacting upper and lower vertebral endplates, and at least one depression in the anterior or posterior face for engagement by an insertion tool, at least two vertical through-channels extending through the implant from the superior face to the inferior face, a chamfer on the superior and inferior surfaces at one of the narrow implant ends, and a beveled edge along a perimeter of the superior and inferior faces. The arcuate implant configuration and the chamfers on the superior and inferior faces at the narrow end facilitate insertion of the implant from a transforaminal approach into a symmetric position about the midline of the spine so that a single implant provides balanced support to the spinal column. The implant may include radiopaque markers extending through the thickness of the implant to indicate the location and size of the implant. The implant may be formed of a plurality of interconnecting bodies assembled to form a single unit. An implantation kit and method are also disclosed.

A bone member fastener for closing a craniotomy includes a cap and a base interconnected by a narrow cylindrical collar. The cap has an externally threaded stud that screws into an internally threaded bore of the collar, thereby allowing the cap and base to be brought into clamping engagement against the internal and external faces of a bone plate and surrounding bone. In a particularly disclosed embodiment, the base of the fastener is placed below a craniotomy hole with the collar projecting into the hole, and the stud of the cap is screwed into the bore of the base from above the hole to clamp a bone flap against the surrounding cranium. This device provides a method of quickly and securely replacing a bone cover into a craniotomy. The distance between the cap and base can be selected by how far the threaded stud of the cap is advanced into the internally threaded collar. The fastener is therefore adaptable for use in several regions of the skull having various thicknesses. An insertion tool with a long handle permits safe and convenient placement of the base between the brain and the internal face of the bone plate. Some disclosed embodiments of the fastener have a cap and base that conform to the curved surface of the skull, for example by having an arcuate shape or flexible members that conform to the curvature of the bone plate and surrounding cranial bone as the fastener is tightened.

An apparatus for sealing a passage through tissue includes an elongate shaft and a cylindrical plug disposed on a distal end of the shaft, the plug including a helical thread on its outer surface. Intestinal submucosa may be secured to the plug, e.g., in a cavity in its distal end, that may be delivered into the passage. Alternatively, the plug may be formed from a bioabsorbable material and may be released from the shaft within the passage. The plug is threaded into the passage, thereby engaging the tissue to seal the passage. The shaft is rotated until it engages a blood vessel within the tissue while monitoring blood flow through the vessel. The shaft is rotated to thread the plug into the passage until blood flow ceases through the vessel, whereupon rotation of the shaft is reversed to back the plug until blood flow through the vessel resumes.

Disclosed herein are endoscopic gastric restriction devices and methods. In one embodiment, the device generally includes a shaft having an end effector on a distal end thereof. The end effector includes several elongate segments that are coupled to one another and include opposed troughs formed therein. Each trough is configured to suction and pull tissue into the trough, as well as hold a fastener that can be delivered to tissue disposed within the trough. As a result, the end effector can deliver multiple fasteners to opposed walls of tissue. As the fasteners are delivered into tissue, the segments can be detached from the device, so that the end effector remains in the tissue. Over time, the end effector can be absorbed and / or dissolve, leaving the fasteners behind.

A modular prosthetic knee system used to replace the natural knee. The system includes a femoral knee prosthesis and a tibial knee prosthesis. Both prostheses are formed of modular components that are connectable in-vivo to form the prosthetic knee system. The femoral knee prosthesis includes two separate components, a lateral condyle and medial condyle; and the tibial knee prosthesis includes a multiple separate components, a medial baseplate, a lateral baseplate, a medial insert, and a lateral insert. The medial and lateral baseplate are connectable to form a complete baseplate with the medial and lateral inserts connectable to the complete baseplate.

A manipulator for use in medical procedures can manipulate a medical tool with one or more degrees of freedom with respect to a patient. The manipulator is particularly useful for positioning a medical tool with respect to a patient disposed inside an imaging device such as a computer tomography machine.

A device for repairing a heart valve comprises an implantation instrument. The implantation instrument comprises a first support ring, and a second support ring connected to said first support ring to form a coiled configuration. The first support ring is configured to abut one side of the valve and the second support ring is configured to abut an opposite side of the valve to thereby trap a portion of the valve tissue therebetween. The device further comprises an annuloplasty implant adapted to be attached to the heart valve annulus in order to reshape the annulus and allow the leaflets to open and close properly. The annuloplasty implant is connected to the implantation instrument for insertion to the annulus.

An actuator for a resection device comprises a housing which, when in an operative position, is located within a body lumen of a patient and an inflatable element having a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration, wherein a characteristic length of the inflatable element is greater when in the expanded configuration than when in the collapsed configuration, a first surface of the inflatable element contacting the housing and a second surface of the inflatable element contacting a moveable component of the device movably coupled to the housing such that changing the configuration of the inflatable element between the expanded and collapsed configurations moves the moveable component relative to the housing in combination with a fluid supply line extending from a distal end connected to the inflatable element to a proximal end which, when the housing is in the operative position, remains outside the body of the patient.

A smoking device for generating and releasing smoking vapor free from contamination into the mouth of a user comprising a mouthpiece for providing vapor for inhalation to a user including a tubular casing containing a heater for heating a smoking substance at a substantially constant low temperature by regulating the flow of fuel by a thermal regulator and further having means for visual indication of the operation of the device.

Panels are shown which are provided with a mechanical locking system allowing perpendicular connection with a snap action.