363results about How to "Eliminate risk" patented technology

The invention concerns an assembly comprising a valve prosthesis to be implanted and a support receiving said valve. The support comprises: at least a tubular portion made of a pliable material slightly stretchable in the circumferential direction; means for fixing said tubular portion to the wall of the corporeal duct; and a plurality of elongated reinforcing elements, arranged on the circumference of said tubular portion and linked to said tubular portion independently of one another; the valve is linked at least partly to said elongated reinforcing elements, in particular at the commissures of its leaflets, and said elongated reinforcing elements jointly form, in extended position, a structure having a predetermined diameter that ensures sufficient extension of said valve.

The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method/system for facilitating communications between service providers and potential customers for services. The computer-implemented method/system provides a marketplace for interactions, both online and off-line, between service providers and potential customers, including purchasing groups, particularly buyer-driven service-related interactions. The marketplace advantageously allows categorization, key word searching, group purchasing, service packaging, data mining, auctions and other commercial features and functionality. The computer-implemented method/system also supports holographic imagery, e.g., in the form of virtual assistants, that facilitates marketplace-related activities. Based on the computer-implemented method/system, service providers are able to efficiently and cost effectively extend the reach of their marketing and promotional activities to a wide range of additional customers, and customers are able to initiate access service providers ideally suited to meet their needs, i.e., buyer-driven commerce, at desirable prices and according to required timeframes.

Self-anchoring slings and deployment mechanisms for use therewith in selectively positioning a sling into position within the body. According to a preferred embodiment, the sling comprises an elongate sling portion having opposed ends. Formed upon each respective opposed end is an anchor member operative to be percutaneously advanced through soft tissue at a selected target site in a first direction but resist movement in an opposed direction. Such anchor members are operative to extend in opposed directions to thus enable a sling to be securely affixed into position and resist sag or otherwise lose its ability to support a given structure.

Methods, systems and devices for preventing prosthetic articulating surfaces from separating from each other. A containment system according to one embodiment seeks to prevent an implant stem head from dislocating from a prosthetic component while providing an increased range of motion over conventional contrained components. In one embodiment, an implant structural member includes a cavity and an opening having a lip, including a web along a portion of the lip. An implant stem head has a cooperating surface that corresponds with the web, so that when the cooperating surface of the implant stem head is aligned with the web, the head may be inserted into the implant structural member. The implant stem head is then rotated and the femoral stem component attached, thereby preventing dislocation of the head.

Self-anchoring slings and deployment mechanisms for use therewith in selectively positioning a sling into position within the body. According to a preferred embodiment, the sling comprises an elongate sling portion having opposed ends. Formed upon each respective opposed end is an anchor member operative to be advanced through soft tissue at a selected target site in a first direction but resist movement in an opposed direction. Such anchor members are operative to extend in opposed directions to thus enable a sling to be securely affixed into position and resist sag or otherwise lose its ability to support a given structure. The deployment system is operative to selectively anchor the respective anchor members into position within a tissue mass. Although suitable for a wide variety of applications, it is believed that the system and sling of the present invention are particularly well suited for the deployment of suburethral slings via a trans-obturator route.

Nested commit/reveal sequences using randomized inputs from each participant in a gaming transaction (e.g., the house and each player) may be employed to provide a selection of outcome or outcomes that can be verified by each participant as free from cheating. In general, techniques may be employed in a variety of distributed gaming transaction environments and as a verification facility for any of a wide variety of games in which the risk of player collusion can be eliminated. Nonetheless, several variations on a distributed card dealing method are illustrative and will be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art as applicable in other gaming environments, including games employing outcomes denominated in die (or dice) rolls, coin toss, wheel spins, blind selection or other ostensibly random selection of an outcome from a predefined set thereof.

The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for resource allocation in a packet transmission network including at least one link (19). According to the invention the following steps are performed: Determining link resource status. If link congestion is determined then: determining if it is possible to allocate more link capacity, allocating more link capacity when it is possible to allocate more link capacity, and alleviating link congestion using Active Queue Management when it is not possible to allocate more link capacity.

This invention is a method and system for tokenless biometric authorization of an electronic communication, using a biometric sample, a master electronic identicator, and a public communications network, wherein the method includes: an electronic communication formation step, wherein at least one communication comprising electronic data is formed; a user registration step, wherein a user electronically submits a registration biometric sample taken directly from the person of the user; a public network data transmittal step, wherein the registration biometric sample is electronically transmitted to a master electronic identicator via a public communications network, said master electronic identicator comprising a computer database which electronically stores all of the registration biometric samples from all of the registered users; a user registration biometric storage step, wherein the registration biometric sample is electronically stored within the master electronic identicator; a bid biometric transmittal step, wherein a bid biometric sample, taken directly from the person of the user, is electronically transmitted to at least one electronic identicator; a user identification step, wherein an electronic identicator compares the bid biometric sample to at least one registration biometric sample previously stored in an electronic identicator, for producing either a successful or failed identification of the user; an electronic communication authorization step, wherein upon a successful identification of the user by an electronic identicator, at least one electronic communication is authorized for execution; wherein an electronic communication is biometrically-authorized without the user having to present any personalized man-made memory tokens such as smartcards, or magnetic stripe cards.

A PSA laminate is provided comprising at least one non-adhesive laminate and at least one tackifier layer; wherein the non-adhesive laminate comprises at least one facestock layer and at least one adhesive base layer; wherein the facestock layer comprises at least one facestock material; wherein the adhesive base layer comprises at least one adhesive base polymer; wherein the tackifier layer comprises at least one tackifier; wherein the tackifier composition is not a PSA; and wherein the tackifier layer is applied to the adhesive base layer side of the non-adhesive laminate to produce the PSA laminate. Processes for producing the PSA laminate are also provided as well as articles comprises the PSA laminates.

A computer system and method for processing a mortgage loan receives borrower, property, loan and underwriting data entered by a lender via a certifying company Internet web site. The system, which is operated by the certifying company, communicates with outside service provider systems to order and obtain products there from. The system is loaded with lender parameters for assessing loan risk. The system uses the entered data, outside service provider products and lender parameters to provide a loan assessment and a mortgage loan fulfillment product if the assessment is favorable. The mortgage loan fulfillment product includes a loan package, deed of trust, a promissory note, a title insurance policy and a loan fulfillment certification of the process compliance and data integrity.

A translucent member is arranged so as to cause light originating from an LED light source oriented toward the front of a lamp to enter the translucent member. Outgoing LED light that has entered the translucent member is reflected rearward by a front surface, and then the light is reflected forward by a rear surface, to thereby exit forward of the lamp from the translucent member. At that time, an area on the front surface located in the vicinity of an optical axis Ax is formed as a normal reflection section subjected to reflection surface treatment. The other area of the front surface is formed as an internal reflection section which causes the outgoing LED light to undergo internal reflection. A plurality of reflection elements are formed on the rear surface of the translucent member so as to cause the outgoing LED light reflected from the front surface to enter the internal reflection section at an incidence angle which is smaller than or equal to a critical angle.

An autoinjector comprising a housing in which can be mounted a syringe comprising a barrel for holding a volume of medicament, a needle at one end of the barrel in fluid communication with the medicament and a plunger axially-moveable in the barrel to a forwardmost position, the autoinjector further comprising a syringe support means for supporting the barrel at an axial location at or forward of the forwardmost position of the plunger and having a reaction surface for the syringe, whereby in use said reaction surface (109) provides an axial compressive force on said barrel when a forward axial force is applied to the plunger.

The present invention is a disposable bioreactor formed of molded plastic. The bioreactor is presterilized and has a top and body sealed to each other. One or more ports are formed in the top and side of the housing. Preferably at least one port is below the liquid/air level for the housing. The one or more ports that are below the liquid/air interface level may be used as sampling ports or access ports for probes or drains or supply ports for liquids or gases. The bioreactor provides a direct retrofit for the existing glass or steel assembly that utilizes the existing support structures and controls. The molded design overcomes issues of discontinuity, dead spots and the like due to its fixed dimensions that are built in by the molding process. Reproducible probe and other equipment location is also guaranteed through the use of the molded port features. The molded plastic allows for greater flexibility in material selection to reduce or eliminate lipid or cholesterol binding.

A method and system for modifying program applications of a legacy computer system to directly output data as XML using a DOM instance, models the legacy computer system, maps the model to an XML schema and automatically modifies one or more applications to directly output XML formatted data from an internally constructed DOM instance in cooperation with a writer engine. The writer engine allows for an arbitrary number of contexts to be simultaneously active and builds a complete DOM instance by using the multiple contexts to buffer output data. The writer engine directly loads XML schema information to construct and output DOM instances in accordance with the schema and subject to further transformation by XSLT stylesheets.

A device for repairing a tear in a portion of tissue comprises a proximal actuator portion, a transfer needle extending distally from the proximal actuator portion and a catch needle extending distally from the proximal actuator portion. A suture needle is disposed in the transfer needle, and is extendable from the transfer needle toward the catch needle and retractable from the catch needle toward the transfer needle. An extendable catch plunger is disposed in the catch needle for capturing suture therein when it is transferred from the transfer needle. A retractable insertion sheath is provided for covering the transfer needle and the catch needle when the device is inserted into a procedural site. A depth limiting apparatus limits the depth of insertion of the needle into the procedural site.

Disclosed is a system comprising: a reconfigurable hardware platform; a plurality of hardware units defined as cells adapted to be programmed to provide self-organization and self-maintenance of the system by means of implementing a program expressed in a programming language defined as DNA language, where each cell is adapted to communicate with one or more other cells in the system, and where the system further comprises a converter program adapted to convert keywords from the DNA language to a binary DNA code; where the self-organisation comprises that the DNA code is transmitted to one or more of the cells, and each of the one or more cells is adapted to determine its function in the system; where if a fault occurs in a first cell and the first cell ceases to perform its function, self-maintenance is performed by that the system transmits information to the cells that the first cell has ceased to perform its function, and then the self-organisation is performed again in order to provide that a second cell undertakes the function of the first cell.

The communication method and system include wirelessly transmitting a data packet from a first node to a plurality of second nodes to define a wireless multicast transmission. Each second node determines whether the data packet was received with errors and if so transmits a negative acknowledgement (NAK) to the first node in a common allocated NAK time slot for the second nodes. The first node retransmits the data packet to the second nodes based upon receiving the NAK from any second node. The method and system may include measuring propagation delay between the first node and each of the plurality of second nodes, or measuring a maximum propagation delay between the first node and the plurality of second nodes, to determine the common allocated NAK time slot.

The present invention is directed to a medical device, specifically a prosthesis which utilizes a novel class of blends between biodegradable polymers and bioceramics for medical device applications allowing one to capitalize on the biodegradable nature of these two distinct materials while enhancing the strength of these devices through the addition of various amounts of bioactive ceramic and glasses to biodegradable polymers. The blend may be fabricated into a medical device such as a stent or a distal protection device, and may incorporate various agents to enhance radioapacity and/or pharmacological function. In addition, the blend may be used as a coating to a medical device.

The invention provides a medical introducer (21; 31; 41; 51; 61; 71; 81; 91; 101) having a tubular distal portion (22; 32; 42; 52; 62; 72; 82; 92; 102) with a wall (23; 33; 43; 53; 63; 73; 83; 93; 103) and a distal end opening (24; 34; 44; 54; 64; 74; 84; 94; 104) and being adapted for introduction of a haemostatic material (4) into a canal (9) in a patient's body, said canal extending from the patient's skin (13) and into the body and comprising an elongated member (15; 86; 96; 106), which is attached in the canal and extends in the canal and out from the patient's skin, wherein a guide (25; 35; 45; 55; 65; 75; 85; 95; 105) has been provided at the distal portion of the introducer, said guide being adapted for sliding engagement with the elongated member.

Compositions for use in treating and repairing orthopedic defects are provided. The compositions are especially useful for performing percutaneous vertebroplasty, percutaneous kyphoplasty and other procedures. When cured, the compositions are relatively solid but compressible, and prior to curing are viscous liquids with a low enough viscosity to fill voids in cavities such as voids within fractured vertebrae. Optionally, the properties of a composition according to the invention can be adjusted taking into account the hardness and density of the orthopedic structure to be repaired. Also disclosed are devices and methods for using the compositions, and a kit containing components for forming and utilizing the composition.

A system and a method of performing a frameless image-guided biopsy uses imaging, a six-dimensional robotic couch system, a laser guidance system, an optical distance indicator, and a needle control apparatus. A planning CT scan is made of the patient with stereotactic fiduciary markers to localize and produce digitally reconstructed radiographs. Two stereoscopic images are generated using an imaging device to visualize and identify a target tumor. The images are fused with the digitally reconstructed radiographs of the planning CT scan to process tumor location. The tumor location data are communicated to the movable robotic couch to position the target tumor of the patient at a known isocenter location. A biopsy needle is guided with a laser alignment mechanism towards the isocenter at the determined depth using a needle positioning apparatus and an Optical Distance Indicator, and a biopsy sample of the target tumor is obtained.

The present invention refers to a ventilation system used in hospital respiratory devices for the administration of anesthesia to newly born, pediatric and adult patients. More specifically, the present invention refers to a ventilation system that promotes a respiratory circuit with re-inhalation for the administration of anesthesia and that overcomes all inconveniences and deficiencies existing in respiratory devices of the state of the art. The ventilation system in respiratory devices comprises a bellows assembled within a reservoir, which is provided with a manifold with various gas exhaling valves, more specifically release valves to take out the excess of gases, and an exhaling valve for control gases. It is additionally constituted of a valve for the free flow of oxygen to quickly renew or replace the gases inside the respiratory circuit.

The invention concerns a surgical device forming a surgical prosthesis.

This device is characterized in that it contains at least one first sling (20), at least one first traction component (30), and at least one first fixation or anchoring system (40), designed to work in concert with at least said first traction component (30), which includes a cage-forming device (42), the upper end (43) of which is fitted with a sliding component (46) which makes it easier to pull on the traction component (30) which acts on the sling (20), so that said pulling effects translation of one end of the sling (20). The device is preferably intended for the treatment of urinary incontinence in female mammals, in particular the human female.

A method and system for modifying program applications of a legacy computer system to directly output data in XML format models the legacy computer system, maps the model to an XML schema and automatically modifies one or more applications to directly output XML formatted data in cooperation with a writer engine and a context table. A modeling engine lists the incidents within the applications that write data and generates a report data model. The report data model includes statically determined value or type of the data fields and is written in a formal grammar that describes how the write operations are combined. A modification specification is created to define modifications to the legacy computer system applications that relate applications that write data to the XML schema. A code generation engine then applies the modification specification to the applications to write modified applications that, in cooperation with a writer engine and context table, directly output XML formatted data from the legacy computer system without a need for transforming the data.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing an output solution having a predetermined level of available free chlorine including two or more parallel production lines. Each production line includes an electrolytic cell, means for passing a saline solution having a substantially constant chloride ion concentration through the cell, means for applying a substantially constant current across the cell, and means for dispensing output solution from the cell.

A boot including a sole, an upper, and a mechanism for tightening the upper, the mechanism for tightening the upper including keepers, at least one lace, a device for blocking at least one strand of the lace, as well as a handle for pulling the strand, the boot also including a device for removably affixing the handle to the upper. A storing device allows storing the portion of the strand that extends between the blocking device and the handle.

An apparatus for communication between a site within a body deep to the skin and a source, depot, reservoir, device, machine, or power source external to the body via the mouth of the body, comprising an implant for placement in tooth-supporting bone, the implant having a first portion extending into the mouth external to the tooth-supporting bone, a second portion for being embedded in the tooth-supporting bone, and an opening extending along the implant from the first portion to the second portion; and a conduit for coupling to the second portion of the implant when the implant is implanted in the tooth-supporting bone so that the conduit is in communication with the opening, the conduit being for extending from the implant to the site in the body.

An archwire is disclosed for use in an orthodontic appliance of the type that includes brackets attached to a surface of at least one tooth. The archwire includes an anterior portion for engaging at least one bracket of at least one anteriorly disposed tooth in a patient's mouth. The anterior portion includes a relatively larger cross sectional area, a first end portion and a second end portion. A first posterior portion is provided for engaging at least one bracket of at least one posteriorly disposed tooth in a patient's mouth. The first posterior portion includes a proximal end portion fixedly coupled to the first end portion of the anterior portion, and a second end. A second posterior portion is provided for engaging at least one bracket of at least one posteriorly disposed tooth in a patient's mouth. The second posterior portion includes a proximal end portion fixedly coupled to the second end portion of the anterior portion of the second end. The first and second posterior portions each have a relatively smaller cross sectional area than the relatively larger cross sectional area of the anterior portion.

The device consists of a shaft with a detachable brush tip. The brush tip is a new design incorporating the utility of an expandable self adjusting area that yields a complete sample of the endocervix and exocervix regardless of varying individual anatomy. The head will have protrusions disposed at strategic positions with flat surface collection areas. A ledge with protrusions will sample the exocervical area and a middle portion will sample the endocervical area. The brush tip is matched to a special collection container that permits the brush tip to be detached and deposited into said container without the handling of the brush/head area. In this fashion and utility the sampled cellular material can be completely, safely, and securely transported for laboratory evaluation.

Interposition and augmentation devices for tendon and ligament repair, including rotator cuff repair, have been developed as well as methods for their delivery using arthroscopic methods. The devices are preferably derived from biocompatible polyhydroxyalkanoates, and preferably from copolymers or homopolymers of 4-hydroxybutyrate. The devices may be delivered arthroscipiclly, and offer additional benefits such as support for the surgical repair, high initial strength, prolonged strength retention in vivo, flexibility, anti-adhesion properties, improved biocompatibility, an ability to remodel in vivo to healthy tissue, minimal risk for disease transmission or to potentiate infection, options for fixation including sufficiently high strength to prevent suture pull out or other detachment of the implanted device, eventual absorption eliminating future risk of foreign body reactions or interference with subsequent procedures, competitive cost, and long-term mechanical stability. The device are also particularly suitable for use in pediatric populations where their eventual absorption should not hinder growth.