149 results about "Hyperelastic material" patented technology

A suture anchoring and tensioning device is made from a resilient strip of polymeric or superelastic material adapted to be coiled into a tight spiral configuration that restricts movement of a suture entwined therein as the device coils about itself.

A compression clip assembly for compressing tissue and operable by means of a user-operated applier. The assembly comprises a compression clip and a lock element. The clip includes a pair of normally spaced apart elongate members each having an outward-facing surface, and having respective inward-facing opposing surfaces for compressing tissue; a hinge formed at least partly of a superelastic material and in operative mechanical connection with the elongate members; and a lock region formed on the outer surface of each of the elongate members adjacent to the hinge, each lock region being delimited by a first stop element proximal to the hinge and a second stop element distal from the hinge. The lock element is constructed for lockably engaging the lock regions so as to lock the clip in its closed position. The invention also encompasses a system and method for using the compression clip assembly.

A micromanipulator comprising a tubular structure and a structural compliance mechanism that are formed from a tube made of an elastic and / or superelastic material. Fabricated with laser machining and has no mechanical joints, the micromanipulator can be manipulated in various motions and degree-of-freedoms without permanent deformation. Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) in one embodiment are implemented as main actuators of the micromanipulator. The micromanipulator can be implemented with multiple SMAs to manipulate the mechanism with multiple degree-of-freedom. In another implementation, multiple segments of the mechanisms are formed and arranged in various configurations, including a “double-helix”-like configuration, for enabling intricate motions of the micromanipulator. The micromanipulator is useful for intravascular interventional applications and particularly ultrasonic imaging when coupled with an ultrasound transducer.

A clot and foreign body removal device is described which comprises a catheter with at least one lumen. Located within the catheter is a clot capture coil that is connected to an insertion mandrel. In one embodiment, the clot capture coil is made out of a solid elastic or superelastic material which has shape memory, preferably nitinol. The elasticity or superelasticity of the coil allows it to be deformed within the catheter and to then reform its original coil configuration when the coil is moved outside of the catheter lumen. In another embodiment the coil is a biphasic coil which changes shape upon heating or passing an electric current. Once the coil configuration has been established, the coil can be used to ensnare and corkscrew a clot in a vessel. A clot is extracted from the vessel by moving the clot capture coil and catheter proximally until the clot can be removed or released into a different vessel that does not perfuse a critical organ. Foreign bodies are similarly captured by deploying the coil distal to the foreign body and moving the clot capture coil proximally until the foreign body is trapped within the coil. By removing the device from the body, the foreign material is also removed.

A needle assembly 10 compromising an infusion needle 11 that includes a needle cannula 13 made of a superelastic material such as Nitinol. The needle cannula is cold-worked or heat annealed to produce a preformed bend 16 that can be straightened within passageway 21 of a coaxial outer cannula 12 for introduction into the body of a patient. Upon deployment from the outer cannula, the needle cannula substantially returns to the preformed configuration for the introduction or extraction of materials at areas lateral to the entry path of the needle assembly. The needle assembly can compromise a plurality of needle cannulae than can be variably arranged or configured for attaining a desired infusion pattern.

A clot and foreign body removal device is described which comprises a catheter with at least one lumen. Located within the catheter is a clot capture coil that is connected to an insertion mandrel. In one embodiment, the clot capture coil is made out of a solid elastic or superelastic material which has shape memory, preferably nitinol. The elasticity or superelasticity of the coil allows it to be deformed within the catheter and to then reform its original coil configuration when the coil is moved outside of the catheter lumen. In another embodiment the coil is a biphasic coil which changes shape upon heating or passing an electric current. Once the coil configuration has been established, the coil can be used to ensnare and corkscrew a clot in a vessel. A clot is extracted from the vessel by moving the clot capture coil and catheter proximally until the clot can be removed or released into a different vessel that does not perfuse a critical organ. Foreign bodies are similarly captured by deploying the coil distal to the foreign body and moving the clot capture coil proximally until the foreign body is trapped within the coil. By removing the device from the body, the foreign material is also removed.

A suture anchoring and tensioning device is made from a resilient strip of polymeric or superelastic material adapted to be coiled into a tight spiral configuration that restricts movement of a suture entwined therein as the device coils about itself.

Disclosed are cardiac shunts and method of delivery, and in particular, to a shunt to reduce elevated left atrial pressure (LAP). The methods include forming a puncture hole between the left atrium and the coronary sinus, widening the puncture hole, and placing an expandable shunt within the widened puncture hole. A first catheter having a side-extending needle may be used to form a puncture into the left atrium. A second catheter extends along a guidewire and an expandable shunt with distal and proximal flanges is expelled therefrom into the puncture. The shunt defines a blood flow passage therethrough that permits shunting of blood from the left atrium to the coronary sinus when the LAP is elevated. The shunt is desirable formed of a super-elastic material and manipulated with control rods. The shunt defines a tilted flow tube that facilitates collapse into the catheter.

In a turbofan gas turbine engine, a fan shaft is rotatably mounted and radially supported by a bearing in a bearing support structure supported from a fixed engine structure by radially frangible bolts and radially extending spokes. The radially inner ends of the radially extending spokes are mounted on a common member that engages the bearing support structure. The radially outer ends of the radially extending spokes are mounted on a fixed engine structure located radially outwardly of the bearing support structure. The radially extending spokes are held in tension and include a super elastic material to exert a radially inward restoring force on the bearing support structure, subsequent to any radial excursion of at least part of the fan shaft relative to an engine rotational axis (X) following any fracture of the frangible bolts.

A needle assembly 10 compromising an infusion needle 11 that includes a needle cannula 13 made of a superelastic material such as Nitinol. The needle cannula is cold-worked or heat annealed to produce a preformed bend 16 that can be straightened within passageway 21 of a coaxial outer cannula 12 for introduction into the body of a patient. Upon deployment from the outer cannula, the needle cannula substantially returns to the preformed configuration for the introduction or extraction of materials at areas lateral to the entry path of the needle assembly. The needle assembly can compromise a plurality of needle cannulae than can be variably arranged or configured for attaining a desired infusion pattern.

The invention discloses a fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm structure which adopts a lengthwise conical structure. The fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm structure comprises a fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm main body, a mechanical arm center body positioned in the conical center hole of the fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm main body, and air passages evenly surrounding the mechanical arm center body and in axially symmetrical distribution, wherein the air passages extend from a large-diameter end to a small-diameter end and keeps a certain distance with an end surface so as to keep gas inside the air passages, and a layer of fiber reinforced composite material is arranged on the outer surface of a mechanical arm; the air passages in axially symmetrical distribution are of lengthwise conical structures; the fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm main body is made of a super elastic material, more than 200 percent of deformation is produced under pneumatic pressure, and the hardness of the mechanical arm center body is higher than that of the fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm main body. Compared with the prior art, the fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm structure provided by the invention imitates octopus tentacles, and integrates the air passages and the mechanical arm, so that the structural design, the processing and manufacturing, and the assembling of the entire mechanical arm are greatly simplified, 3D printing technology is used for one step processing, and objects in complex shapes can be grabbed, the mass is light, and the transmitting cost is reduced.