20302results about How to "Improve the immunity" patented technology

An electrosurgical medical device and technique for creating thermal welds in engaged tissue that provides very high compressive forces. In one exemplary embodiment, at least one jaw of the instrument defines a tissue engagement plane carrying first and second surface portions that comprise (i) an electrically conductive material and (ii) a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material having a selected increased resistance that differs at each selected increased temperature over a targeted treatment range. One type of PTC material is a doped ceramic that can be engineered to exhibit a selected positively sloped temperature-resistance curve over about 37° C. to 100° C. The 70° C. to 100° C. range can bracket a targeted “thermal treatment range” at which tissue welded can be accomplished. The engineered resistance of the PTC matrix at the upper end of the temperature range will terminate current flow through the matrix. In one mode of operation, the engagement plane cause ohmic heating within tissue from Rf energy delivery tissue PTC matrix is heated to exceed the treatment range. Thereafter, energy density in the engaged tissue will be modulated as the conductivity of the second portion hovers within the targeted treatment range to thereby provide optical tissue heating for purposes of tissue welding.

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 invention comprises a percutaneously implantable replacement heart valve device and a method of making same. The replacement heart valve device comprises a stent member made of stainless steel or self-expanding nitinol, a biological tissue artificial valve means disposed within the inner space of the stent member. An implantation and delivery system having a central part which consists of a flexible hollow tube catheter that allows a metallic wire guide to be advanced inside it. The endovascular stented-valve is created from a glutaraldehyde fixed biocompatible tissue material which has two or three cusps that open distally to permit unidirectional blood flow. The present invention also comprises a novel method of making a replacement heart valve by taking a fragment of biocompatible tissue material and treating, drying, folding and rehydrating it in such a way that forms a two- or three-leaflet/cusp valve with the leaflets/cusps formed by folding, thereby eliminating the extent of suturing required, providing improved durability and function.

Provided is a capacitance type input device, in which a plurality of first light transmission electrodes extending in a first direction and a plurality of second light transmission electrodes extending in a second direction crossing the first direction are formed in an input region of a light transmission substrate, wherein, when the light transmission substrate is viewed from the top, dummy patterns formed of the same light transmission conductive film as the first light transmission electrodes and the second light transmission electrodes are formed in regions sandwiched between the first light transmission electrodes and the second light transmission electrodes.

The present invention concerns methods and reagents useful in modulating gene expression in a variety of applications, including use in therapeutic, diagnostic, target validation, and genomic discovery applications. Specifically, the invention relates to synthetic chemically modified small nucleic acid molecules, such as short interfering nucleic acid (siNA), short interfering RNA (siRNA), double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), micro-RNA (miRNA), and short hairpin RNA (shRNA) molecules capable of mediating RNA interference (RNAi) against target nucleic acid sequences. The small nucleic acid molecules are useful in the treatment of any disease or condition that responds to modulation of gene expression or activity in a cell, tissue, or organism.

A composite filtration medium web of fibers containing a controlled dispersion of a mixture of sub-micron and greater than sub-micron diameter polymeric fibers is described. The filtration medium is made by a two dimensional array of cells, each of which produces a single high velocity two-phase solids-gas jet of discontinuous fibers entrained in air. The cells are arranged so that the individual jets are induced to collide in flight with neighboring jets in their region of fiber formation, to cause the individual nascent fibers of adjacent jets to deform and become entangled with and partially wrap around each other at high velocity and in a localized fine scale manner before they have had an opportunity to cool to a relatively rigid state. The cells are individually adjusted to control the mean diameters, lengths and trajectories of the fibers they produce. Certain cells are adjusted to generate a significant percentage of fibers having diameters less than one micron diameter, and which are relatively shorter in length and certain other cells are adjusted to generate a significant percentage of structure-forming reinforcing fibers having diameters greater than one micron diameter which are relatively longer in length. By employing appropriate close positioning and orientation of the cells in the array, the sub-micron fibers are caused to promptly entangle with and partially wrap around the larger reinforcing fibers. The larger fibers thereby trap and immobilize the sub-micron diameter fibers in the region of formation, to minimize the tendency of sub-micron diameter fibers to clump, agglomerate, or rope together in flight. Also, the larger fibers in flight are made to form a protective curtain to prevent the sub-micron fibers from being carried off by stray air currents.

A physiological measurement system can include a low noise patient cable that connects a monitor and a noninvasive optical sensor. The cable has a plurality of emitter wires configured to communicate a drive signal between the monitor and at least one emitter. The cable also has a plurality of detector wires configured to communicate a physiological signal between at least one detector responsive to the emitter and the monitor. The emitter and detector wires are orthogonally disposed so that crosstalk between the two functionally different wires is mitigated.

A porous composite material useful in semiconductor device manufacturing, in which the diameter (or characteristic dimension) of the pores and the pore size distribution (PSD) is controlled in a nanoscale manner and which exhibits improved cohesive strength (or equivalently, improved fracture toughness or reduced brittleness), and increased resistance to water degradation of properties such as stress-corrosion cracking, Cu ingress, and other critical properties is provided. The porous composite material is fabricating utilizing at least one bifunctional organic porogen as a precursor compound

The present invention provides tools and methods for mapping and measuring the articular surface of a joint (or of any bony surface) and for fabricating a prosthetic device based on this recorded data. In one embodiment, once the defect of the chondral surface has been identified, a guide pin is inserted arthroscopically. A fixation screw is driven into the subchondral bone in relation to a reference axis that is approximately central to the defect, the fixation device also serving to define a tangent point to the surrounding articular surface. A further cylindrical proximal extension of the screw that eventually serves as a fixation element for the surface prosthetic is concealed with a cover or plug. The depth positioning of the cover or plug establishes an origin or reference point for all future measuring, cutting, and prosthetic machining operations. A measuring tool having a static post that establishes the axial location of origin is inserted on the reference axis. By rotating the outer arm or outrigger of the measuring tool relative to the static post while also maintaining contact with the articular surface, an axial displacement or Z dimension is established relative to the origin for any point along the known radial sweep of the outrigger to determine the final geometry of the prosthetic surface which fits within the defect. Data recorded during the mapping procedure is entered into parametric engineering design software or similar algorithm to define a three dimensional surface matched to the bearing surface geometry to be implanted and reproduce the anatomic contours mapped.

This invention relates to compounds, compositions, and methods useful for modulating mitogen activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) gene expression using short interfering nucleic acid (siNA) molecules. This invention also relates to compounds, compositions, and methods useful for modulating the expression and activity of other genes involved in pathways of MAP kinase gene expression and/or activity by RNA interference (RNAi) using small nucleic acid molecules. In particular, the instant invention features small nucleic acid molecules, such as short interfering nucleic acid (siNA), short interfering RNA (siRNA), double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), micro-RNA (miRNA), and short hairpin RNA (shRNA) molecules and methods used to modulate the expression of MAP kinase genes, such as Jun amino-terminal kinase (e.g., JNK-1, JNK-2), p38 (MAPK 14), ERK (e.g., ERK-1, ERK-2) and/or c-Jun.

The present invention relates to the identification of macaque antibodies to human B7.1 and B7.2 by screening of phage display libraries or monkey heterohybridomas obtained using B lymphocytes from B7.1 and/or B7.2 immunized monkeys. More specifically, the invention provides four monkey monoclonal antibodies 7B6, 16C10, 7C10 and 20C9 which inhibit the B7:CD28 pathway and thereby function as effective immunosuppressants. The invention further provides the complete DNA and amino acid sequences of the light and heavy chain of three primatized antibodies derived from those monkey monoclonal antibodies which bind B7.1 and possibly B7.2, primatized 7C10, primatized 7B6 and primatized 16C10. These primatized and monkey antibodies may be used as specific immunosuppressants, e.g., for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and to prevent organ transplant rejection.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for the production and labeling of objects in a manner suitable for the prevention and detection of counterfeiting. Thus, the system incorporates a variety of features that make unauthorized reproduction difficult. In addition, the present invention provides an efficient means for the production of labels and verification of authenticity, whereby a recording apparatus which includes a recording medium, having anisotrophic optical domains, along with a means for transferring a portion of the recording medium to a carrier, wherein a bulk portion of the recording medium has macroscopically detectable anisotrophic optical properties and the detecting apparatus thereon.