4141 results about "In patient" patented technology

Spinal stabilizing elements and spinal stabilization systems composed of spinal stabilizing elements in combination with disc prostheses or disc nucleus replacements are provided. The stabilizing elements and stabilization systems are designed to preserve the natural mobility of vertebral discs and facet joints in patients with facet joint disease or patients who has undergone a prior destabilizing procedure, such as a facetectomy. The stabilizing elements may be pivoting elements or dynamic elements.

Methods, systems, devices and kits for performing lung volume reduction in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or other conditions using and comprising minimally invasive instruments introduced through the mouth (endotracheally) to isolate a target lung tissue segment from other regions of the lung and reduce lung volume. Isolation is achieved by deploying an obstructive device in a lung passageway leading to the target lung tissue segment. Once the obstructive device is anchored in place, the segment can be aspirated through the device. This may be achieved by a number of methods, including coupling an aspiration catheter to an inlet port on the obstruction device and aspirating through the port. Or, providing the port with a valve which allows outflow of gas from the isolated lung tissue segment during expiration of the respiratory cycle but prevents inflow of air during inspiration. In addition, a number of other methods may be used. The obstructive device may remain as an implant, to maintain isolation and optionally allow subsequent aspiration, or the device maybe removed at any time.

The present invention is an artificial cornea designed to restore vision in patients who are not candidates to receive a natural cornea transplant (allograft). The present device construction involves the use of a biocompatible, non-porous optic disk intimately bonded to one or more anchoring layers of porous polymeric material, and a unique sealing region which enhances sealing of the artificial cornea in the recipient's eye.

Present invention is a system of blood glucose monitoring and intensive insulin therapy in a ICU for strict maintenance of normoglycemia which reduces intensive care and hospital mortality and morbidity of critically ill adult patients. The findings of present study also reveal factors determining insulin doses needed to maintain normoglycemia as well as the impact of insulin dose versus blood glucose level on the observed outcome benefits have been established. The invention provides a control system that adapts the flow of the insulin infusion based on insulin requirement calculated by blood glucose levels and clinical parameters such as history of diabetes, Body Mass Index, blood glucose level on admission, reason of ICU admission, time in the ICU, type and severity of illness, caloric intake, obesity, drugs affecting insulin sensitivity). This automated insulin monitoring systems significantly reduces the workload and human resource management problems for intensive insulin therapy in patients in the ICU.

There is a need for a technique to compensate for, or eliminate, motion-induced artifacts in patient-attached critical care monitoring instruments. Consequently, the invention is directed to improving pulse-oximetry by incorporating additional signals to aid in the triggering of the pulse-oximeter or in analyzing the data received by the pulse oximeter. This includes detecting when the patient moves and analyzing the pulse-oximetry data in light of the detected movement.

An implantable stimulator and monitor measures a group of heart failure parameters indicative of the state of heart failure employing EGM signals, measures of blood pressure including absolute pressure P, developed pressure (DP=systolic P-diastolic P), and/or dP/dt, and measures of heart chamber volume (V) over one or more cardiac cycles. These parameters include: (1) relaxation or contraction time constant tau (.tau.); (2) mechanical restitution (MR), i.e., the mechanical response of a heart chamber to premature stimuli applied to the heart chamber; (3) recirculation fraction (RF), i.e., the rate of decay of PESP effects over a series of heart cycles; and (4) end systolic elastance (E.sub.ES), i.e., the ratios of end systolic blood pressure P to volume V. These heart failure parameters are determined periodically regardless of patient posture and activity level. The physician can determine whether a particular therapy is appropriate, prescribe the therapy for a period of time while again accumulating the stored patient data for a later review and assessment to determine whether the applied therapy is beneficial or not, thereby enabling periodic changes in therapy, if appropriate. Drug therapies and electrical stimulation therapies, including PESP stimulation, and pacing therapies including single chamber, dual chamber and multi-chamber (bi-atrial and/or bi-ventricular) pacing can be delivered. In patient's prone to malignant tachyarrhythmias, the assessment of heart failure state can be taken into account in setting parameters of detection or classification of tachyarrhythmias and the therapies that are delivered.

A method of inhibiting the release of a proinflammatory cytokine in a cell is disclosed. The method comprises treating the cell with a cholinergic agonist. The method is useful in patients at risk for, or suffering from, a condition mediated by an inflammatory cytokine cascade, for example endotoxic shock. The cholinergic agonist treatment can be effected by stimulation of an efferent vagus nerve fiber, or the entire vagus nerve.

Methods and devices are disclosed for the non-invasive treatment of neurodegenerative diseases through delivery of energy to target nervous tissue, particularly the vagus nerve. The devices include a magnetic stimulator having coils with toroidal windings, which are in contact with an electrically conducting medium that is adapted to conform to the contour of a target body surface of a patient. The coils induce an electric current and/or an electric field within the patient, thereby stimulating nerve fibers within the patient. The stimulation brings about reduction of neuroinflammation in patients suffering from conditions comprising Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, postoperative cognitive dysfunction and postoperative delirium. Reduction in inflammation is effected by enhancing the anti-inflammatory competence of cytokines such as TGF-beta, wherein a retinoid or components of the retinoic acid signaling system provide an anti-inflammatory bias, by enhancing anti-inflammatory activity of a neurotrophic factor such as NGF, GDNF, BDNF, or MANF, and/or by inhibiting the activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha.

A method for screening individuals at risk for prostate cancer progression is disclosed. The method is useful for evaluating cells from patients at risk for recurrence of prostate cancer following surgery for prostate cancer. Specifically, the method uses specific Markovian nuclear texture factors, alone or in combination with other biomarkers, to determine whether the cancer will progress or lose organ confinement. In addition, methods of predicting the development of fatal metastatic disease by statistical analysis of selected biomarkers is also disclosed. The invention also contemplates a method that uses a neural network to analyze and interpret cell morphology data. Utilizing Markovian factors and other biomarkers as parameters, the network is first trained with a sets of cell data from known progressors and known non-progressors. The trained network is then used to predict prostate cancer progression in patient samples.

Microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus are closely related to blood glucose levels and fluctuations. The Glycostator statistical package was created to allow patients and health care providers simple access to “glycemic indicators” which permit a “snapshot view” of the effectiveness of the patient's diabetes management program. Glycostator functions provide a simple way of enhancing the information already provided by home blood glucose monitoring devices. To this end, a set of new indices, including one called the Virtual A1c, are computed in a recursive fashion from blood glucose test results to provide a more meaningful day-to-day assessment of glycemic control. All indices can be made available at the meter user interface on request. The displayed indices allow patients to improve glycemic control by identifying problems with blood glucose control and lability that are less easily recognized in traditional blood glucose meter statistical packages. Virtual A1c emulates hemoglobin A1c continuously and provides better day-to-day assessment of long term glycemic control than does the traditional average blood glucose report. The method for computing each of these indices, including the Virtual A1c, allows for their implementation in commercial blood glucose monitors.

A noninvasive patient-specific method is provided to aid in the analysis, diagnosis, prediction or treatment of hemodynamics of the cardiovascular system of a patient. Coronary blood flow and pressure can be predicted using a 3-D patient image-based model that is implicitly coupled with a model of at least a portion of the remaining cardiovascular system. The 3-D patient image-based model includes at least a portion of the thoracic aorta and epicardial coronaries of the patient. The shape of one or more velocity profiles at the interface of the models is enforced to control complex flow features of recirculating or retrograde flow thereby minimizing model instabilities and resulting in patient-specific predictions of coronary flow rate and pressure. The invention allows for patient-specific predictions of the effect of different or varying physiological states and hemodynamic benefits of coronary medical interventions, percutaneous coronary interventions and surgical therapies.

There is a need for improved methods for determining the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with conditions, including autoimmune disease and cancer. Provided herein are methods for using DNA sequencing to identify personalized biomarkers in patients with autoimmune disease and other conditions. Identified biomarkers can be used to determine the disease state for a subject with an autoimmune disease or other condition.

The present invention relates to bioabsorbable polymeric coatings with antimicrobial agents that provide coated surfaces that resist protein absorption and infectious formation on coated surfaces of medical devices that are inserted or implanted in patients, and kits thereof with an antimicrobial disc.

The present invention provides devices and methods for occluding the left atrial appendage. The device includes an easily deployed wire structure of shape memory material sized to be appropriate for use in a patient. The device may be manufactured in various sizes for use in various patients. The device has a sheet of material attached for eclipsing the opening of the left atrial appendage and means for secured attachment substantially within the left atrial appendage. The method includes deploying the device within the left atrial appendage, securely anchoring the device, and ensuring that a sheet of material eclipses the opening of the left atrial appendage. These features are incorporated into the improved devices and methods in order to more effectively aid in the prevention of clot formation and clot migration into or out of the left atrial appendage to greatly decrease the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.

The present invention provides methods for analyzing a combination of biomarkers to individualize tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. In particular, the assay methods of the present invention are useful for predicting, identifying, or monitoring the response of a tumor, tumor cell, or patient to treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor using an algorithm based upon biomarker profiling. The assay methods of the present invention are also useful for predicting whether a patient has a risk of developing toxicity or resistance to treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In addition, the assay methods of the present invention are useful for monitoring tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in a patient receiving the drug to evaluate whether the patient will develop resistance to the drug. Furthermore, the assay methods of the present invention are useful for optimizing the dose of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor in a patient receiving the drug to achieve therapeutic efficacy and/or reduce toxic side-effects.

A blood glucose maintenance system for use by hyperglycemic individuals measures their blood glucose level and calculates an appropriate glucose or insulin dosage based on the measurement. Recheck intervals responsive to dosage history are determined. Warning or alert messages or signals are produced if certain measurements or calculations fall outside established normal ranges. It is particularly useful for patients in a hospital or in-patient environment.

There is a need for improved methods for determining the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with conditions, including autoimmune disease and cancer, especially lymphoid neoplasms, such as lymphomas and leukemias. Provided herein are methods for using DNA sequencing to identify personalized, or patient-specific biomarkers in patients with lymphoid neoplasms, autoimmune disease and other conditions. Identified biomarkers can be used to determine and/or monitor the disease state for a subject with an associated lymphoid disorder or autoimmune disease or other condition. In particular, the invention provides a sensitive method for monitoring lymphoid neoplasms that undergo clonal evolutions without the need to development alternative assays for the evolved or mutated clones serving as patient-specific biomarkers.

Detection of placement of dental aligners in patient mouth on teeth for indication of wearing compliance. Described herein are apparatuses and methods for detecting wearing, including compliance, and for reliably transferring data, by wired or wireless direct or indirect communication of electronic compliance information to a smartphone. Also described herein are dental appliances that can detect physiological parameters related to respiration and sleep. Also described herein are aligner cases that enable NFC communication with electronic compliance indicator (ECI) devices and Bluetooth communication with smartphones.