46251results about How to "Avoid clogging" patented technology

Apparatus is provided for treating a condition of a subject, including an electrode device, adapted to be coupled to an autonomic nerve of the subject, and a control unit. The control unit is adapted to drive the electrode device to apply to the nerve a stimulating current, which is capable of inducing action potentials in a therapeutic direction in a first set and a second set of nerve fibers of the nerve, and to drive the electrode device to apply to the nerve an inhibiting current, which is capable of inhibiting the induced action potentials traveling in the therapeutic direction in the second set of nerve fibers, the nerve fibers in the second set having generally larger diameters than the nerve fibers in the first set. Other embodiments are also described.

An ultrasonic medical probe has an elongate shaft with a head portion having a distal end face oriented at least partially transversely to a longitudinal axis of the shaft. The head portion has a lateral surface extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis, the lateral surface being provided with outwardly or radially extending projections. The shaft of the probe is provided with an internal longitudinal channel or bore and at least one ancillary or tributary channel communicating at an inner end with the longitudinal channel or bore and extending to the lateral surface. The ancillary or tributary channel has an outer end disposed in a region about the projections. The projections may be finely configured and distributed so as to form a knurled surface on the head portion.

Methods and apparatus for electrosurgically treating human skin. The skin may be treated by applying thermal energy to the dermis to shrink the skin following liposuction, or to induce collagen deposition at the site of a wrinkle for wrinkle reduction or removal. In another embodiment, a method involves electrosurgically removing or modifying tissue in the head or neck to provide a face-lift or a neck-lift. In one embodiment, the working end of an electrosurgical instrument is positioned in at least close proximity to the dermis by approaching the dermis from the underside (reverse side) of the skin.

Devices and methods are provided for temporarily inducing cardioplegic arrest in the heart of a patient and for establishing cardiopulmonary bypass in order to facilitate surgical procedures on the heart and its related blood vessels. Specifically, a catheter based system is provided for isolating the heart and coronary blood vessels of a patient from the remainder of the arterial system and for infusing a cardioplegic agent into the patient's coronary arteries to induce cardioplegic arrest in the heart. The system includes an endoaortic partitioning catheter having an expandable balloon at its distal end which is expanded within the ascending aorta to occlude the aortic lumen between the coronary ostia and the brachiocephalic artery. Means for centering the catheter tip within the ascending aorta include specially curved shaft configurations, eccentric or shaped occlusion balloons and a steerable catheter tip, which may be used separately or in combination. The shaft of the catheter may have a coaxial or multilumen construction. The catheter may further include piezoelectric pressure transducers at the distal tip of the catheter and within the occlusion balloon. Means to facilitate nonfluoroscopic placement of the catheter include fiberoptic transillumination of the aorta and a secondary balloon at the distal tip of the catheter for atraumatically contacting the aortic valve. The system further includes a dual purpose arterial bypass cannula and introducer sheath for introducing the catheter into a peripheral artery of the patient.

A method for extracting nucleic acid from a fluid sample comprises the steps of introducing the sample into a cartridge having a sample flow path and a lysing chamber in the sample flow path. The lysing chamber contains at least one filter for separating cells or viruses from the sample. The sample is forced to flow through the lysing chamber to capture the cells or viruses with the filter, while used sample fluid flows to waste. The captured cells or viruses are disrupted to release their nucleic acid, the nucleic acid is eluted from the lysing chamber, and optionally the nucleic acid is amplified and detected in a reaction chamber of the cartridge.

An apparatus configured for connection to a mixer for receiving a slurry and altering the flow characteristics of the slurry includes a conduit having a main inlet in slurry receiving communication with the mixer outlet and extending to a spout for discharging the slurry, at least one conduit restrictor associated with the conduit for creating back-pressure between the conduit restrictor and the mixer outlet for keeping the mixer full, and at least one pressure reducer associated with the discharge spout and configured for reducing the pressure of the slurry dispensed from the discharge spout. The apparatus is configured for maintaining a generally laminar flow from the mixer outlet to the discharge spout.

The present invention provides systems and methods for selectively applying electrical energy to a target location within a patient's body, particularly including tissue in the spine. The present invention applies high frequency (RF) electrical energy to one or more electrode terminals in the presence of electrically conductive fluid to contract collagen fibers within the tissue structures. In one aspect of the invention, a system and method is provided for removing a vertebral disc in preparation for implanting a prosthetic disc or removing a portion of the vertebral disc such as the nucleus pulposus in preparation for placing a prosthetic nucleus within the annulus of the disc. The present invention also teaches shrinking residual tissue in preparation for placing the implants.

A microcatheter for removing thromboemboli from cerebral arteries in patients suffering from ischemic stroke. The microcatheter provides an extraction lumen that can be scaled to a very small diameter that is still capable of extracting and emulsifying thrombus without clogging the channel. The microcatheter of the invention uses a series of spaced apart energy application mechanisms along the entire length of the catheter's extraction lumen to develop sequential pressure differentials to cause fluid flows by means of cavitation, and to contemporaneously ablate embolic materials drawn through the extraction lumen by cavitation to thereby preventing clogging of the lumen. The catheter system thus provides a functional high-pressure extraction lumen that is far smaller than prior art catheter systems. Preferred mechanisms for energy delivery are (i) a laser source and controller coupled to optic fibers in the catheter wall or (ii) an Rf source coupled to paired electrodes within the extraction lumen. Each energy emitter can apply energy to fluid media in the extraction channel of the catheter-wherein the intense energy pulses can be sequentially timed to cause fluid media flows in the proximal direction in the channel.

The present invention provides systems and methods for selectively applying electrical energy to a target location within a patient's body, particularly including tissue in the spine. The present invention applies high frequency (RF) electrical energy to one or more electrode terminals in the presence of electrically conductive fluid or saline-rich tissue to contract collagen fibers within the tissue structures. In one aspect of the invention, a system and method is provided for contracting a portion of the nucleus pulposus of a vertebral disc by applying a high frequency voltage between an active electrode and a return electrode within the portion of the nucleus pulposus, where contraction of the portion of nucleus pulposus inhibits migration of the portion nucleus pulposus through the fissure.

Described are improvements to the structure and functionality of a reduced pressure adapter used to connect a distribution manifold and a reduced pressure source instrumentation in a reduced pressure wound treatment (RPWT) system. The reduced pressure adapter reduces instances of unintentional liquid ingress into ancillary lumens of a reduced pressure delivery tube, while channeling the liquid to a primary lumen of the reduced pressure delivery tube.

A method and system for treating a patient to repair damaged tissue which includes exposing a selected area of bone marrow of a patient to ultrasound waves or ultra shock waves so that cells comprising stem cells, progenitor cells or macrophages are generated in the area of the bone marrow of the patient due to the ultrasound, converting the cells from the bone marrow of the patient and reducing the damaged tissue in the bone marrow of the patient by repairing the damaged tissue.

A blood flow diverter device for treatment of intracranial aneurysms, including a porous tubular member having a central portion and two ends. The member is of sufficient flexibility and body compatibility to be placed in proximity within an intracranial aneurysm. The central portion of the tubular member has a sufficiently decreased porosity to block blood flow from entering through the aneurysm. This is done by one of three methods: (1) the central portion of the member can be compressed to decrease porosity and heat set to hold the compression; (2) the angle of the fibers can be altered if the tubular member is made from a braided fibers; or (3) a monomeric coating can be formed on the central portion in an amount sufficient to decrease the porosity of the central portion upon polymerization of the monomeric coating. In the third embodiment a polymerization initiator is provided for polymerizing the monomeric coating upon command to cause the decreased porosity to block the blood flow. The device is heat set after compression to permit insertion and expansion in the patient. The tubular member has sufficient porosity at the two ends to keep open small perforator arteries proximate to the intracranial aneurysm.

A new method for introducing wellbore cement into a wellbore shoe joint has been invented, the shoe joint having a hollow tubular body, the shoe joint containing an amount of wellbore fluid, the shoe joint disposed in a wellbore cementing system between a float shoe, guide shoe, or other flow apparatus beneath the shoe joint, and a hollow tubular member above the shoe joint, the hollow tubular member being a lower part of a wellbore tubular string of a plurality of tubular members (e.g., casing) extending from an earth surface down into a wellbore, the method including moving a wellbore wiper plug into the hollow tubular body of the shoe joint, moving the plug within the shoe joint to push wellbore fluid from the shoe joint and, in one aspect, debris in the fluid, the fluid flowing to the float shoe, guide shoe or other flow apparatus, flowing wellbore cement into the hollow tubular body of the shoe joint.

A dual interface SIM card adaptor is described for use with an existing SIM card slot that provides a dual interface electronic information storage card. The dual interface SIM card carrier comprises a flexible printed circuit board, a mini-sized SIM card, a housing to house the mini-sized SIM card, and a cap to affix the mini-sized SIM card in place. The mini-sized SIM card has dimensions that are less than the dimensions for a typical SIM card. The mini-sized SIM card is separable from a carrier that holds the mini-sized SIM card and an antenna. The adaptor is inserted into the SIM card slot in a mobile handset for contact electronic communication, such as wireless telecom, and for contactless electronic communication, such as public transportation, payment and RFID. Contactless communication can be carried out by RFID, Near Field Communication or bar codes.

A battery thermal system for use in a vehicle having a power plant, an air conditioning system and a battery pack, and a method of operation, is disclosed. The battery thermal system may include a refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger that selectively receives a refrigerant from the vehicle air conditioning system; a battery radiator located adjacent to a cooling fan; a valve that receives a liquid coolant from the battery pack and selectively redirects the liquid coolant to the refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger and the battery radiator; and an electric pump for pumping the liquid coolant through the battery pack, the valve, the refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger and the battery radiator. The battery thermal system may also include a battery coolant heater for selectively heating the coolant that flows into the battery pack.

The present invention describes microfluidic devices that provide novel fluidic structures to facilitate the separation of fluids into isolated, pico-liter sized compartments for performing multiplexing chemical and biological reactions. Applications of the novel devices including biomolecule synthesis, polynucleotide amplification, and binding assays are also disclosed.