16814results about How to "Promote recovery" patented technology

Systems for bone and spinal stabilization, fixation and repair include intramedullar nails, intervertebral cages and prostheses, remotely activatable prostheses, tissue extraction devices, and electrocautery probes. The intramedullar nails, intervertebral cages and prostheses, are designed for expansion from a small diameter for insertion into place to a larger diameter which stabilizes, fixates or repairs the bone, and further can be inserted percutaneously. Remotely activatable prostheses can be activated from an external unit to expand and treat prosthesis loosening. Tissue extraction devices, and electrocautery probes are used to remove tissue from desired areas.

The present disclosure describes a device and methods for safely and accurately placing screws into bones with a powered driving device. By employing multiple layers of fail-safe features and image-guidance systems, the powered driving device provides safe, accurate, and efficient screw placement. That is, the powered driving device may continuously monitor a screw advancement and placement and may automatically shutdown when improper placement is detected. Monitoring placement may be conducted by a microcurrent-monitoring system, by an image-guidance system, or by any other appropriate sensory system. Additionally, upon detecting that screw insertion is complete, the powered driving device may be automatically shutdown. As screw placement is continuously simulated by image-guidance in real time, multiple redundant verification steps are eliminated, providing highly accurate screw placement while decreasing clinician error, device contamination, and surgical time, the decreased surgical time associated with decreased patient-recovery time and associated medical costs.

Disclosed are methods and compositions for producing heterologous disulfide bond containing polypeptides in bacterial cells. In preferred embodiments the methods involve co-expression of a prokaryotic disulfide isomerase, such as DsbC or DsbG and a gene encoding a recombinant eukaryotic polypeptide. Exemplary polypeptides disclosed include tissue plasminogen activator.

Various embodiments of a laparoscopic trocar assembly are disclosed. The port assemblies include inserted parts that protect the patient's tissues at the point of deployment. The port assemblies include seals for maintaining pneumoperitoneum both when instrument are being used and when instruments are not inserted.

An apparatus and method improves heating of a solid precursor inside a sublimation vessel. In one embodiment, inert, thermally conductive elements are interspersed among units of solid precursor. For example the thermally conductive elements can comprise a powder, beads, rods, fibers, etc. In one arrangement, microwave energy can directly heat the thermally conductive elements.

A conformable adhesive article for use as a sterile medical dressing is described. The article includes a breathable polymeric matrix, a plurality of phases, and an adhesive composition positioned on the polymeric matrix. The plurality of phases preferably provide reinforcement and stiffness to the article. The article permits transport of moisture across the breathable polymeric matrix, preferably at an Inverted water moisture vapor transmission rate of at least 300 g / m2 / 24 hours.

The current invention discloses a catheter and a method for delivering a stentless bloprosthesis in a body channel, the method comprising percutaneously introducing a catheter into the body channel, wherein the catheter contains said stentless bloprosthesis at a retracted state; and disengaging said stentless bioprosthesis out of a distal opening of the catheter by a pulling mechanism associated with the catheter structure.

A knee prosthesis, methods of implanting the prosthesis, method of treating arthritis of the knee, and a kit therefore are provided. The prosthesis answers many of the limitations of current knee prosthetic devices by providing a two-component (or alternatively, an optional three-component) device, as either a single structure, or as separate pieces. One of the components is constructed of low friction material, while the second is composed of a weight-dissipating cushioning material; the optional third component is constructed of low friction material. The prosthesis is initially attached to surrounding soft tissue in the knee by biodegradable sutures; it is held permanently in place by fibrous ingrowth into a porous collagen rim in the cushioning component. Major improvements provided by the present invention over currently available prostheses include minimal incisions, minimal or no bone cuts, minimal overall dissection (these improvements lead to shorter hospital stays and rapid rehabilitation and fewer potential for side effects), less prosthetic wear, greater longevity, fewer activity restrictions, able to be used on young, large, active patients, ease of revision, ease of conversion into a total knee arthroplasty if needed.

Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed that use super-resolution (SR) processes to use information from a plurality of low resolution (LR) images captured by an array camera to produce a synthesized higher resolution image. One embodiment includes obtaining input images using the plurality of imagers, using a microprocessor to determine an initial estimate of at least a portion of a high resolution image using a plurality of pixels from the input images, and using a microprocessor to determine a high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to within at least one predetermined criterion using the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image. In addition, each forward imaging transformation corresponds to the manner in which each imager in the imaging array generate the input images, and the high resolution image synthesized by the microprocessor has a resolution that is greater than any of the input images.

A improved flexible annular stapler for joining annular organs (163, 164) is disclosed. The novel stapler features greater accuracy of operation and better control by the operator, as well as additional functions, such as internal illumination (76) and viewing facility (82), and accommodation of a large number of accessories, such as fibroscopes (90) and catheters. The novel stapler features easy attachability of both stapling jaws (18, 25) and easy detachability of the head (11). The novel features of the flexible stapler, and associated methods performed thereby, are particularly useful for closed surgery.

Devices and methods are provided for the treatment of glaucoma. An ocular implant is adapted such that aqueous humor flows controllably from the anterior chamber of the eye to Schlemm's canal, bypassing the trabecular meshwork. The implant may utilize one or more bioactive agents effective in treating glaucoma or other pathology.

The invention relates generally to medical devices and methods for reducing the intraocular pressure in an animal eye and, more particularly, to stent type devices for permitting aqueous outflow from the eye's anterior chamber and associated methods thereof for the treatment of glaucoma. Some aspects provide a self-trephining glaucoma stent and methods thereof which advantageously allow for a “one-step” procedure in which the incision and placement of the stent are accomplished by a single device and operation. This desirably allows for a faster, safer, and less expensive surgical procedure.

A laparoscopic port assembly includes a cannula unit including three cannulas each extending at an acute angle relative to a base. The cannulas are flexible for receiving respective angulated laparoscopic instruments. The cannula unit is rotatingly received in a port holder for rotation about a longitudinal axis of the holder, the holder being disposable in an opening in a patient's skin.

A process for the recovery of ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene and heavier hydrocarbon components from a hydrocarbon gas stream is disclosed. In recent years, the preferred method of separating a hydrocarbon gas stream generally includes supplying at least portions of the gas stream to a fractionation tower having at least one reboiler, and often one or more side reboilers, to supply heat to the column by withdrawing and heating some of the tower liquids to produce stripping vapors that separate the more volatile components from the desired components. The reboiler and side reboilers (if any) are typically integrated into the feed stream cooling scheme to provide at least a portion of the refrigeration needed to condense the desired components for subsequent fractionation in the distillation column. In the process disclosed, the tower reboiling scheme is modified to use one or more tower liquid distillation streams from a point higher in the column than is used in the conventional reboiling scheme, providing colder stream(s) for the reboiler(s) that allow more effective cooling of the feed streams and thereby improve the efficiency with which the desired components are recovered. In addition, the tower liquid streams withdrawn from a higher point in the column contain larger quantities of the more volatile components, which when vaporized provide better stripping of undesirable components like carbon dioxide without reducing the recovery of the desired components. The heated distillation stream is returned to a lower point on the fractionation tower that is separated from the withdrawal point by at least one theoretical stage.

Methods, apparatus and computer programs have been provided for mitigating a problem of non-optimal recovery from storage device failures. A method involves determining a required write performance for rebuilding data of a failed device, based at least partly on the potential read performance of storage devices in a data rebuild; and allocating a virtual storage area within available storage, which allocation of virtual storage is based at least partly on the required write performance. Data is rebuilt by writing to the allocated virtual storage area, and data recovery is completed by migrating this rebuilt data to at least one data storage device such as a spare physical storage device within the array.

The present invention provides a method and system for efficiently producing hydrogen that can be supplied to a fuel cell. The method and system of the present invention produces hydrogen in a reforming reactor using a hydrocarbon stream and water vapor stream as reactants. The hydrogen produced is purified in a hydrogen separating membrane to form a retentate stream and purified hydrogen stream. The purified hydrogen can then be fed to a fuel cell where electrical energy is produced and a fuel cell exhaust stream containing water vapor and oxygen depleted air is emitted. In one embodiment of the present invention, a means and method is provided for recycling a portion of the retentate stream to the reforming reactor for increased hydrogen yields. In another embodiment, a combustor is provided for combusting a second portion of the retentate stream to provide heat to the reforming reaction or other reactants. In a preferred embodiment, the combustion is carried out in the presence of at least a portion of the oxygen depleted air stream from the fuel cell. Thus, the system and method of the present invention advantageously uses products generated from the system to enhance the overall efficiency of the system.

This invention describes methods of using anti-B cell antibodies, preferably anti-CD20 antibodies, and most preferably Rituximab, to treat B cell lymphomas of the brain, especially primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSLs), and to prevent meningeal relapse. The antibodies can be administered intrathecally alone, or in combination with other chemotherapeutics, such as methotrexate, or other anti-B cell antibodies to treat PCNSL in both immunocompromised and non-immunocompromised patients. These antibodies can also be used to diagnose patients with CNS lymphoma, especially in immunocompromised patients.

The present invention provides an improved alkali metal catalyzed steam gasification process that utilizes a CO2 trap material and / or a mineral binder material within the gasifier. The process optimally achieves over 90% carbon conversion with over 80% yield of methane. The raw gas product can be used directly as fuel. The catalyst can be recovered from the solid purge and recycled to the gasifier and / or the CO2 trap can be regenerated and recycled to the gasifier.

The invention relates to methods and compositions for the differentiation of stromal cells from adipose tissue into hematopoietic supporting stromal cells and myocytes of both the skeletal and smooth muscle type. The cells produced by the methods are useful in providing a source of fully differentiated and functional cells for research, transplantation and development of tissue engineering products for the treatment of human diseases and traumatic tissue injury repair.

A system for loosely coupled temporal storage management includes a logical storage aggregation including a plurality of data blocks, a data producer, one or more data consumers, and a temporal storage manager. The temporal storage manager may be configured to maintain a producer shadow store including entries stored in a log-structured logical volume, where each entry is indicative of one or more data blocks of the logical storage aggregation that have been modified by the data producer. The temporal storage manager may also be configured to maintain a repository containing a baseline version of the logical storage aggregation, and to provide the data consumers with read-only access to the producer shadow store and the repository.

The currency-value converter according to the present invention transmits amount-of-converted-currency data indicating the amount of basic currency identified based on the type of this currency, the amount of the currency and the exchange rate, to a controller installed in a gaming machine, when the type of currency accepted through a currency validator is not the basic currency. The exchange rate is a rate in which a correspondence relationship between an amount of the basic currency and an amount of another type of currency other than the basic currency is set for each type of currency other than the basic currency. Then, a game is played at the gaming machine based on the transmitted amount-of-converted currency.

Intraocular stents and applicators are disclosed for treating glaucoma. The stents are configured to extend between the anterior chamber of the eye and Schlemm's canal for enhancing outflow of aqueous from the anterior chamber so as to reduce intraocular pressure. The stents can have features for anchoring the stent into Schlemm's canal as well as preventing the walls of Schlemm's canal from closing the outlet of the stents. The applicators can be steerable so as to make implantation easier. Additionally, the applicators can be configured to hold a plurality of stents so that multiple stents can be implanted through one incision without removing the applicator from the incision between serial implantations.

A device is described that can be used quickly and accurately by surgeons to provide uniform facial tissue planes that are tunnel-free and wall-free thus optimizing face lifting, tightening, and implant delivery. The device is comprised of a shaft with a substantially planar tip further comprised of relative protrusions and energized relative recession lysing segments. Forward motion of the device precisely divides and energizes various tissue planes causing contraction, especially via the fibrous tissues. Other forms of energy and matter can be delivered down the shaft to further enhance desirable tissue modification and contraction.

The present invention provides for a method, system, and computer program for the application of data deduplication according to a policy-based strategy of tiered data. The method operates by defining a plurality of data storage policies for data in a deduplication system, policies which may be arranged in tiers. Data objects are classified according to a selected data storage policy and are split into data chunks. If the selected data storage policy for the data object does not allow deduplication, the data chunks are stored in a deduplication pool. If the selected data storage policy for the data object allows deduplication, deduplication is performed. The data storage policy may specify a maximum number of references to data chunks, facilitating storage of new copies of the data chunks when the maximum number of references is met.

The present invention provides methods of modulating mammalian, particularly human, stem cell and progenitor cell differentiation to regulate and control the differentiation and maturation of these cells along specific cell and tissue lineages. The methods of the invention relate to the use of certain small organic molecules to modulate the differentiation of stem cell populations along specific cell and tissue lineages, particularly embryonic-like stem cells originating from a postpartum placenta or stem cells isolated form sources such as cord blood. The invention also relates to the treatment or prevention of myelodysplastic syndrome or myeloproliferative syndrome, or symptoms thereof, comprising administration of JNK or MKK inhibitors, alone or in combination, as well as with or without the use of unconditioned cells or cells conditioned in accordance with other aspects of the invention. Finally, the invention relates to the use of such differentiated stem cells in transplantation and other medical treatments.