838results about How to "Inhibit reflux" patented technology

Methods and devices for use in tissue approximation and fixation are described herein. The present invention provides, in part, methods and devices for acquiring tissue folds in a circumferential configuration within a hollow body organ, e.g., a stomach, positioning the tissue folds for affixing within a fixation zone of the stomach, preferably to create a pouch or partition below the esophagus, and fastening the tissue folds such that a tissue ring, or stomas, forms excluding the pouch from the greater stomach cavity. The present invention further provides for a liner or bypass conduit which is affixed at a proximal end either to the tissue ring or through some other fastening mechanism. The distal end of the conduit is left either unanchored or anchored within the intestinal tract. This bypass conduit also includes a fluid bypass conduit which allows the stomach and a portion of the intestinal tract to communicate.

A system for inducing cardioplegic arrest and performing an endovascular procedure within the heart or blood vessels of a patient. An endoaortic partitioning catheter has an inflatable balloon which occludes the ascending aorta when inflated. Cardioplegic fluid may be infused through a lumen of the endoaortic partitioning catheter to stop the heart while the patient's circulatory system is supported on cardiopulmonary bypass. One or more endovascular devices are introduced through an internal lumen of the endoaortic partitioning catheter to perform a diagnostic or therapeutic endovascular procedure within the heart or blood vessels of the patient. Surgical procedures such as coronary artery bypass surgery or heart valve replacement may be performed in conjunction with the endovascular procedure while the heart is stopped. Embodiments of the system are described for performing: fiberoptic angioscopy of structures within the heart and its blood vessels, valvuloplasty for correction of valvular stenosis in the aortic or mitral valve of the heart, angioplasty for therapeutic dilatation of coronary artery stenoses, coronary stenting for dilatation and stenting of coronary artery stenoses, atherectomy or endarterectomy for removal of atheromatous material from within coronary artery stenoses, intravascular ultrasonic imaging for observation of structures and diagnosis of disease conditions within the heart and its associated blood vessels, fiberoptic laser angioplasty for removal of atheromatous material from within coronary artery stenoses, transmyocardial revascularization using a side-firing fiberoptic laser catheter from within the chambers of the heart, and electrophysiological mapping and ablation for diagnosing and treating electrophysiological conditions of the heart.

A device for controlling the expansion of a hollow internal organ, comprising an inflatable balloon, which is inserted in an uninflated state into the desired position close to the organ using minimally invasive procedures. After insertion, the balloon is inflated to its required size and shape. The invention is useful for restricting the expansion of the stomach during meals, thus inducing a feeling of satiety and preventing over-eating. Inflation may be performed through a catheter connected to a readily accessible inflation port. In the case of the gastric embodiment, the balloon may be positioned pro-peritoneally, such that the procedure is surgically simple. One or more sensors located close to the organ to be controlled, may monitor a physiological effect relating to the organ, and the output of the sensor used to control the level of inflation of the balloon in order to correct the condition being monitored.

A needle aspiration biopsy device includes a syringe, a valve coupler for controlling a vacuum in the syringe barrel, and an anti-reflux head. The head includes a hub, defining a large collection well preferably several hundred micro liters in volume, and a needle mounted to the hub. A passageway is defined either by a contoured needle or a straight needle and an internal channel in the hub wall such that a proximal end of the passageway extends inside the hub and opens in spaced relation to a floor of the collection well. A method of biopsy using the device is also disclosed.

A catheter with valve for implantation in a vascular structure of a living being. The catheter is in the general shape of a "T" with the top of the "T" implanted within the lumen of a vascular structure, and the leg of the "T" extending out of the vascular structure through an incision in the vascular structure. The lumen of the implanted portion of the catheter completely occupies the lumen of the vascular structure, causing all blood flow through the vascular structure to be directed through the implanted portion of the catheter. A valve is placed in the wall of the implanted portion of the catheter which opens into the lumen of the leg of the "T" of the catheter upon application of sufficient differential pressure between the lumens of the two portions of the catheter. The leg of the "T" is connected to the side wall of the implant portion of the catheter at an angle, such that the axis of the lumen of the leg of the "T" intersects the axis of the lumen of the implanted portion of the catheter at approximately a 45 degree angle.

In a plasma CVD apparatus, a plate formed with a plurality of perforated holes is arranged to separate a plasma generation region and a processing region. The aperture ratio of the perforated holes to the plate is not greater than five percent. Plasma including radicals and excited species is generated from an oxygen (O2) gas in the plasma generation region, then the radicals and excited species flow into the processing region through the perforated holes. A monosilane (SiH4) gas is also supplied into the processing region, but the backward flow of the monosilane gas into the plasma generation region is suppressed by the plate. In the processing region, the radicals and the excited species and the monosilane gas result in a gas phase reaction that yields the silicon dioxide film formed on the substrate or the wafer with high quality.