969results about How to "Improve treatment" patented technology

Devices and methods provide for ablation of cardiac tissue for treating cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation. Although the devices and methods are often be used to ablate epicardial tissue in the vicinity of at least one pulmonary vein, various embodiments may be used to ablate other cardiac tissues in other locations on a heart. Devices generally include at least one tissue contacting member for contacting epicardial tissue and securing the ablation device to the epicardial tissue, and at least one ablation member for ablating the tissue. Various embodiments include features, such as suction apertures, which enable the device to attach to the epicardial surface with sufficient strength to allow the tissue to be stabilized via the device. For example, some embodiments may be used to stabilize a beating heart to enable a beating heart ablation procedure. Many of the devices may be introduced into a patient via minimally invasive introducer devices and the like. Although devices and methods of the invention may be used to ablate epicardial tissue to treat atrial fibrillation, they may also be used in veterinary or research contexts, to treat various heart conditions other than atrial fibrillation and / or to ablate cardiac tissue other than the epicardium.

A comfortable low-leak mask assembly for use with Non-Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (NIPPV) is provided to improve patient compliance and / or treatment. The mask system may include headgear having straps that are substantially inextensible and / or micro-adjustable; and / or a mask and / or cushion that includes various structures to allow enhanced / tailored sealing and / or fit at selected locations on the patient's face.

An access device particularly adapted for use in laparoscopic surgery facilitates access with instruments, such as the hand of the surgeon, across a body wall and into a body cavity. The device can be formed of a gel material having properties for forming a zero seal, or an instrument seal with a wide range of instrument diameters. The gel material can be translucent facilitating illumination and visualization of the surgical site through the access device.

A surgical access device includes a single valve that forms a seal with a body wall and provides an access channel into a body cavity. The valve has properties for creating a zero seal in the absence of an instrument as well as an instrument seal for an instrument having a diameter up to about 37 mm. The valve can include a gel material and the access channel can include a protective sleeve to provide for wound protection during insertion and withdrawal of a sharp surgical instrument. The valve further comprises a cap ring which may be inserted or molded with the gel material. The protective sleeve may be bonded or molded around an inner diameter of the cap ring. The protective sleeve may be a single tubular member, or may comprise a plurality of axially extending sleeve members having a plurality of axial slits. The protective sleeve and the cap ring may comprise of the same or different materials. The surgical access device further comprises at least one support ring disposed circumferentially of the valve forming a hollow space, and a wound retractor operatively placed in the hollow space. The wound retractor includes an inner ring, an outer ring, and a flexible sleeve connecting the inner ring and the outer ring.

A surgical access device includes a single valve that forms a seal with a body wall and provides an access channel into a body cavity. The valve has properties for creating a zero seal in the absence of an instrument as well as an instrument seal for an instrument having a diameter up to about 37 mm. The valve can include a gel material and the access channel can include a protective sleeve to provide for wound protection during insertion and withdrawal of a sharp surgical instrument. The valve further comprises a cap ring which may be inserted or molded with the gel material. The protective sleeve may be bonded or molded around an inner diameter of the cap ring. The protective sleeve may be a single tubular member, or may comprise a plurality of axially extending sleeve members having a plurality of axial slits. The protective sleeve and the cap ring may comprise of the same or different materials. The surgical access device further comprises at least one support ring disposed circumferentially of the valve forming a hollow space, and a wound retractor operatively placed in the hollow space. The wound retractor includes an inner ring, an outer ring, and a flexible sleeve connecting the inner ring and the outer ring.

The present invention relates to antibodies or fragments thereof that specifically bind FcγRIIB, particularly human FcγRIIB, with greater affinity than said antibodies or fragments thereof bind FcγRIIA, particularly human FcγRIIA. The present invention also provides the use of an anti-FcγRIIB antibody or an antigen-binding fragment thereof, as a single agent therapy for the treatment, prevention, management, or amelioration of a cancer, preferably a B-cell malignancy, particularly, B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an autoimmune disorder, an inflammatory disorder, an IgE-mediated allergic disorder, or one or more symptoms thereof. The invention provides methods of enhancing the therapeutic effect of therapeutic antibodies by administering the antibodies of the invention to enhance the effector function of the therapeutic antibodies. The invention also provides methods of enhancing efficacy of a vaccine composition by administering the antibodies of the invention.

Disclosed is a system for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms using a stent and a aneurysm pocket fill structure delivery system. One embodiment of the present invention uses a highly radiopaque, drug eluting stent that is deployed with its sidewall over the ostium of the aneurysm pocket. A fill structure delivery catheter is then advanced through the patient's vascular system until the catheter's distal end is situated within the aneurysm pocket. Compressed aneurysm pocket filling structures are then pushed through the fill structure delivery catheter. As the aneurysm pocket filling structures emerge from an opening in the catheter's distal end, they promptly expand so that their minimum dimension is sufficiently large so that they cannot pass through the spaces between the struts of the stent that cover the ostium of the aneurysm pocket.

A method for treating pain in painful diabetic neuropathy comprises administering in combination a first agent that comprises a compound as defined herein, illustratively lacosamide, and a second agent effective to provide enhanced treatment of pain, by comparison with the first agent alone. The second agent illustratively comprises an analgesic, an anticonvulsant, an antidepressant or an NMDA receptor antagonist.

An orthopedic knee brace provides an apparatus for accurately prescribing the anatomical motion of the human knee. The orthopedic knee brace is used for treatment and rehabilitation following surgery to the knee, protection for a surgically repaired knee, and protection for an uninjured knee, among other applications. The orthopedic knee brace actively prescribes asymmetric three-dimensional anatomic motion in six degrees of freedom of the wearer's knee. The rigid connections between the thigh and calf engaging members and the medial and lateral hinges provide the ability of the orthopedic knee brace to prescribe asymmetric three-dimensional anatomic motion in six degrees of freedom by actively prescribing flexion and extension, abduction and adduction, internal / external rotation, anterior / posterior translation, medial / lateral translation, and proximal / distal translation between a femur and a tibia of a wearer's leg. In alternate embodiments a single-hinge brace design is provided for treatment and prevention of osteoarthritis and other joint diseases and conditions.

A wound treatment device comprises a wound surface contacting plug (10) and a cover (24) for covering the wound surface (22) and the plug (10), wherein said plug (10) consists of a flat textile isolating material comprising at least one first surface layer (12), one second surface layer (14) and one intermediate space (18) arranged between said surface layers (12, 14). At least the first surface layer (12) is provided with a biocompatible surface and a structure which enables a liquid to pass and prevents a wound tissue from growing in said structure. The intermediate space (18) is provided with isolating threads (16) elastically holding the first surface layer (12) and the second surface layer at a certain distance from each other.

The present invention enhances the effectiveness of treatment of support tissue structures. Generally, such tissue structures support organs and hold the organs in their proper position for appropriate functioning. When such tissue structures become weak, hyper-elastic, and / or excessively lengthy, the organs of are no longer supported in their proper position. This often leads to physical manifestations such as incontinence, hernias, and the like. Remedies often involve thermal treatment of the support tissue structures, such as thermally inducted controlled shrinkage, contraction, or stiffening of the support tissue structure. To enhance such thermal treatment and diminish the possibility of undesirable heating and damage to nearby tissue surfaces, vasoconstrictive agents are used.

Disclosed herein are molecules that include a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) covalently bonded to a protein and uses thereof.

Methods for formulating immediate and sustained release anti-infectives and delivery of such for treatment of respiratory tract infections and other medical conditions, and devices and formulations used in connection with such are described.

The present invention relates to a system and method for assessing the impact of an ailment on a health related quality of life domain of a patient using a standardized common metric. The standardized common metric of the present invention enables the impact of various ailments to be compared.

Disclosed are methods and systems for deep or superficial deep-brain stimulation using multiple therapeutic modalities, including up-regulation or down-regulation using ultrasound impacting one or multiple points in a neural circuit to produce Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) or Long-Term Depression (LTD). Also disclosed are: methods and systems for patient-feedback control of non-invasive deep brain or superficial neuromodulation; devices for producing shaped or steered ultrasound for non-invasive deep brain or superficial neuromodulation; methods and systems using intersecting ultrasound beams; non-invasive ultrasound-neuromodulation techniques to control the permeability of the blood-brain barrier; non-invasive neuromodulation of the spinal cord by ultrasound energy; methods and systems for non-invasive neuromodulation using ultrasound for evaluating the feasibility of neuromodulation treatment using non-ultrasound / ultrasound modalities; and method and systems for neuromodulation using ultrasound delivered in sessions.

Tunnel is provided for conditioning of food products, especially for sterilization of food in containers or vessels of the heat-sealed type, in which the conditioning unit has: 1) an active temperature and pressure control system provided in at least one magnetron supported heating stage, which provides for balancing of the pressure within the heat-sealed vessels or containers; 2) a conveyor which conveys the heat-sealed vessels or containers through the stages along the conditioning unit which contains mechanisms that move the conveyor outside of the conditioning tunnel, and 3) doors operating like check valves that separate the conditioning stages, but still provide for continuous linear feed of products through conditioning tunnel. In preferred embodiment, the conditioning tunnel in includes a plurality temperature sensors, such as linear pyrometers for measuring the temperature of for mapping the temperature of products within the tunnel Moreover, preferably the conveyor is adjustable to move forward and rearward, and the magnetrons, which preferably operate at approximately 915 Mhz and 2400 Mhz, are adjustable to provide a controllable movement and amplitude. A controller is connected to the temperature sensors, conveyor and magnetrons to cause the conveyor to move products forward or rearward, or cause the magnetrons to move the magnetic field relative to the food products to more thoroughly and evenly cook the food products. Movement of the magnetron electromagnetic field and / or conveyor is controlled by software which utilizes the temperature and / or density measurements in a closed loop process to ensure uniform heating of the products.

Methods and apparatus for improving measurements of cardiovascular health status in a given individual are provided. The comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular health includes at least two components: risk factor assessment based on epidemiologic studies and functional status of the individual. Structural studies of the individual can also be included in the comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular health. The invention aims to improve detection, treatment, devices, and administration of cardiovascular risk assessment.

A wound treatment device comprises a wound surface contacting plug and a cover for covering the wound surface and the plug, wherein said plug consists of a flat textile isolating material comprising at least one first surface layer, one second surface layer and one intermediate space arranged between said surface layers. At least the first surface layer is provided with a biocompatible surface and a structure which enables a liquid to pass and prevents a wound tissue from growing in said structure. The intermediate space is provided with isolating threads elastically holding the first surface layer and the second surface layer at a certain distance from each other.

Methods and apparatus for improving measurements of cardiovascular health status in a given individual are provided. The comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular health includes at least two components: risk factor assessment based on epidemiologic studies and functional status of the individual. Structural studies of the individual can also be included in the comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular health. The invention aims to improve detection, treatment, devices, and administration of cardiovascular risk assessment.

This invention provides a class of androgen receptor targeting agents (ARTA). The compounds are selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM) useful for, inter-alia, suppressing spermatogenesis, treating a subject having a hormone related condition, treating a subject suffering from prostate cancer, delaying the progression of prostate cancer, preventing the recurrence of prostate cancer, and treating the recurrence of prostate cancer.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an injection devices that inject a specified reagent with cells into lesions and other areas of body tissue. Particular embodiments comprise a main tube with a projection hole on its exterior, an axially-moveable needle tube with a needle at its tip, a reagent supplier configured to supply a specified reagent into the needle tube, and axially-moveable guide wires.

A method and apparatus for thermal treatment of tissue by irradiating the skin with electromagnetic energy is disclosed. Sources of electromagnetic energy include radio frequency (RF) generators, lasers, and flashlamps. The apparatus includes either a positional sensor or a dosage evaluation sensor, or both types of sensors. These sensors provide feedback to a controller. The controller may control the electromagnetic source parameters, the electromagnetic source activation, and / or the sensor measurement parameters. An additional scanning delivery unit may be operably coupled to the controller or to the sensors to provide a controlled distribution of electromagnetic energy to the target region of the skin. The use of positional measurement sensors and dosage evaluation sensors permits the controller to automatically determine the proper electromagnetic source parameters including, for example, pulse timing and pulse frequency.

A device for treating a patient suffering from obstructive sleep apnea or snoring can include an expiratory valve connected to a manifold. The expiratory valve can include a body portion including a feedback port configured to be connected to an air flow generator. The expiratory valve can include a plunger at least partially disposed in the body portion. The expiratory valve can include a pressurizing chamber positioned between an end of the plunger and an end of the expiratory valve. The pressurizing chamber can be configured to receive air from the air flow generator through the feedback port.

The present invention relates to straddle packer systems and methods of using them for downhole isolation of zones for fracturing treatment. More specifically, the system includes upper and lower seal systems having resiliently flexible sealing elements hydraulically and operatively connected to one another which are responsive to an increase in hydraulic pressure for setting the sealing elements at a first hydraulic pressure threshold. Additionally, the system includes a control system hydraulically and operatively connected between the upper and lower packer systems which is responsive to an increase in hydraulic pressure at a second hydraulic pressure threshold higher for activating a pressure switch system within the control system for opening at least one frac valve in the control system.

The invention discloses an intelligent drug box system which comprises a drug box composed of a drug box body and a box cover. Two portions including a drug storage chamber and a control chamber are formed in the drug box body, at least one drug bin is arranged in the drug storage chamber, a detection device arranged in the drug storage chamber in a semi-inverted-conical manner is arranged at the bottom of each drug bin and used for detecting conditions of drugs in the drug box body, and a light-emitting device is arranged at the bottom of each drug bin. A controller, a control button, a sounding device, a vibrating device and a position balance sensor are arranged in the control chamber, a central control chip is integrated on the controller, and connection of the drug box and an intelligent terminal is realized through wireless data transmission. By the intelligent drug box system, a user can effectively know the conditions of the drugs in the drug box, a medicine-taking time can be easily set, the user can be accurately and effectively reminded, recording of medicine-taking states and replenishing of new drugs can be conveniently and timely realized, and the problem that the user forgets to carry the emergency drug box can be solved through a binding function.