44 results about "Heart/circulation" patented technology

The invention is device and method for reducing regurgitation through a mitral valve. The device and method is directed to an anchor portion for engagement with the heart wall and an expandable valve portion configured for deployment between the mitral valve leaflets. The valve portion is expandable for preventing regurgitation through the mitral valve while allowing blood to circulate through the heart. The expandable valve portion may include apertures for reducing the stagnation of blood. In a preferred configuration, the device is configured to be delivered in two-stages wherein an anchor portion is first delivered and the valve structure is then coupled to the anchor portion. In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of forming an anchor portion wherein a disposable jig is used to mold the anchor portion into a three-dimensional shape for conforming to a heart chamber.

Implants, implant systems, and methods for treatment of mitral valve regurgitation and other valve diseases generally include a coaptation assist body which remains within the blood flow path as the leaflets of the valve move, the valve bodies often being relatively thin, elongate (along the blood flow path), and / or conformable structures which extend laterally from commissure to commissure, allowing the native leaflets to engage and seal against the large, opposed surfaces on either side of the valve body during the heart cycle phase when the ventricle contracts to empty that chamber of blood, and allows blood to pass around the valve body so that blood flows from the atrium to the ventricle during the filling phase of the heart cycle. Separate deployment of independent anchors near each of the commissures may facilitate positioning and support of an exemplary triangular valve body, with a third anchor being deployed in the ventricle. An outer surface of the valve body may accommodate tissue ingrowth or endothelialization, while a fluid-absorbing matrix can swell after introduction into the heart. The valve body shape may be selected after an anchor has been deployed, and catheter-based deployment systems may have a desirable low profile.

Implants, implant systems, and methods for treatment of mitral valve regurgitation and other valve diseases generally include a coaptation assist body which remains within the blood flow path as the leaflets of the valve move, the valve bodies often being relatively thin, elongate (along the blood flow path), and / or conformable structures which extend laterally from commissure to commissure, allowing the native leaflets to engage and seal against the large, opposed surfaces on either side of the valve body during the heart cycle phase when the ventricle contracts to empty that chamber of blood, and allows blood to pass around the valve body so that blood flows from the atrium to the ventricle during the filling phase of the heart cycle. Separate deployment of independent anchors near each of the commissures may facilitate positioning and support of an exemplary triangular valve body, with a third anchor being deployed in the ventricle. An outer surface of the valve body may accommodate tissue ingrowth or endothelialization, while a fluid-absorbing matrix can swell after introduction into the heart. The valve body shape may be selected after an anchor has been deployed, and catheter-based deployment systems may have a desirable low profile.

A method of treatment or prophylaxis of a disease state or a condition ameliorated or prevented by electromagnetic field application. A person having or susceptible to such disease state or condition is subjected to electromagnetic fields having a frequency between zero and about 200 Hertz. The diseased state or condition may include diseased heart valves, an enlarged heart, circulatory blockage, coronary insufficiencies, and ischemia. The treatment may be administered non-invasively or invasively. An implantable device for invasively administering the treatment may include at least one component emitting electromagnetic fields having a frequency between zero and about 200 Hertz. The component may include at least one inductor.

PCT No. PCT / SG97 / 00013 Sec. 371 Date Oct. 8, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date Oct. 8, 1998 PCT Filed Apr. 7, 1997 PCT Pub. No. WO97 / 37591 PCT Pub. Date Oct. 16, 1997A method and apparatus for determination of heart rate, heart stroke volume, heart stroke volume, and cardiac output from thoracic bioimpedance signals and electrocardiograms. A unique bioimpedance electrode arrangement is employed, and the bioimpedance signals are corrected for gain-phase-frequency distortion through the use of sinusoidal test signals through the measuring or detection electrodes to identify distortions and correct for same during actual measurements. Time-derivative bioimpedance signals are employed, the power spectrum calculated, and a novel autoconvolution procedure used to emphasize the heart rate harmonic. Breath waves and other signals not indicative of the patient's cardiocycles are removed. Left ventricular ejection time is derived from the bioimpedance signals, and an improved version of Kubicek's equation is employed to derive heart stroke volume and thus cardiac output.

A system to measure intracardiac impedance includes implantable electrodes and a medical device. The electrodes sense electrical signals of a heart of a subject. The medical device includes a cardiac signal sensing circuit coupled to the implantable electrodes, an impedance measurement circuit coupled to the same or different implantable electrodes, and a controller circuit coupled to the cardiac signal sensing circuit and the impedance measurement circuit. The cardiac signal sensing circuit provides a sensed cardiac signal. The impedance measurement circuit senses intracardiac impedance between the electrodes to obtain an intracardiac impedance signal. The controller circuit determines cardiac cycles of the subject using the sensed cardiac signal, and detects tachyarrhythmia using cardiac-cycle to cardiac-cycle changes in a plurality of intracardiac impedance parameters obtained from the intracardiac impedance signal.

In a method for substantially isolating cardiac circulation from systemic circulation, flow between the coronary sinus and the right atrium is occluded. A venous collection device having a collection lumen and a support structure is located in the coronary sinus. The support structure is used to maintain patency of the coronary sinus during collection of fluid through the collection lumen. An artificial flow path is provided between the collection lumen and the one or more coronary arteries, thus isolating the cardiac circulation. According to the method, cardiac pumping for systemic circulation can be maintained during isolation of the cardiac circulation.

Ablation systems comprise a support body, an energy transmitting element supported by the support body and an insulating member covering a portion of the support body and energy transmitting member. Ablation energy is transmitted from an uncovered, exposed portion of the energy transmitting element. The insulating member may be a distal portion of an introducer sheath. An open segment may be provided in the distal portion to expose a portion of the energy transmitting element. When used in cardiac ablation therapy, for example, the insulating member decreases the amount of ablation energy dissipated in the blood circulating through the heart and thermally insulates the energy transmitting member and the tissue at the ablation site, enabling better control of the ablation process. An inflatable balloon or an expandable web may be provided coupled to the distal portion of the sheath behind the open segment to provide further insulation of the energy transmitting element and of the tissue around the ablation site. In another embodiment, ablation catheters incorporate an insulating member such as the inflatable balloon, expandable web or a cover. Methods of ablating tissue are also disclosed.

A valve repair device for repairing a native heart valve of a patient includes a pair of clasps, where each clasp is configured to attach to native valve leaflet. The ends of the pair of clasps can move away from one another to a partially open position when the native valve leaflets open during a diastolic phase of a cardiac cycle, and the ends of the pair of clasps can move toward one another when the native valve leaflets close during a systolic phase of a cardiac cycle.

An apparatus, system, and method for assisting a heart in circulating blood that has been damaged, for example, by a myocardial infarction. In at least one aspect, an apparatus, system, and method are used for inserting a single cannula assembly comprising at least an inner and outer cannula into the left ventricle, advancing the inner cannula portion of the cannula assembly past the aortic valve, and into the aorta without requiring a secondary cannula insertion through an external portion of the aorta. In another aspect, an intraventricular assistant device (IVAD) having a motor and impeller can be inserted directly into the heart, such as in the left ventricle. The IVAD uniquely provides a pump within the heart through a single insertion that can reduce thrombosis and lessen the complexities typically associated with such efforts.

Featured are methods and systems for assessing cardiac filing pressure non-invasively. Such methods include, inter alia, arranging a photoplethysmography (PPG) transducer on a finger of a patient and fluidly coupling a pressure transducer to the patient's mouth so that the pressure transducer measures expiratory pressure. The PPG transducer provides an output of a pulse volume signal of cardiac circulatory flow. Such methods also including determining a pulse amplitude ratio, using the pulse volume near the end of the expiratory effort and a baseline pulse volume, and assessing the pulse amplitude ratio so as to determine a filing pressure condition for the heart of the patient.

A device for cardiocirculatory assistance, also named a ventricular assist device, includes a haematic pump (50) with a pump body (7) having an inner space (21) defined by a rigid structure (51) and a pair of mobile membranes (16, 17) alternately driven in opposite directions by alternately positive pressure and negative pressure gas supplied to recesses (19, 20) surrounding the two membranes by means of an external pneumatic force generating unit (1). This device achieves excellent operation results while maintaining a reduced size and reduced weight.

The invention relates to a system for tracking a cardiac cycle event by using blood pressure. The system comprises a pressure measuring device and a host, wherein the pressure measuring device is configured to measure the pressure close to the proximal side in a blood vessel and the pressure far away from the proximal side in the blood vessel respectively and generate a first pressure signal and asecond pressure signal; the host is connected with the pressure measuring device and receives the first pressure signal and the second pressure signal; the host distinguishes various cardiac cycles based on the first pressure signal and the second pressure signal, calculates the ratio of the pressure value of the second pressure signal to the pressure value of the first pressure signal corresponding to the pressure value of the second pressure signal to obtain a pressure ratio value and generates a target pressure waveform; the host acquires a target derivative waveform based on the target pressure waveform, and determines a target period in any cardiac cycle based on the target derivative waveform, and thus, an average value of the corresponding pressure ratio value in the target periodis obtained; and the target period is a period in which the derivative value of the target derivative waveform in the cardiac cycle changes within a preset numerical range.

An apparatus and a method for connecting medical tubing or any other type of fluidic circuit conduits (e.g., cannulae) to a ventricular assist device (“VAD”) or any other pumping device used for blood pumping during cardiac circulatory support for vascular surgery. The apparatus and the method prevent air bubbles from entering a cardiac circulatory support system when connecting cannulae to a VAD that may later enter the blood stream of a patient during cardiac surgery, and also provide for purging any air bubbles that may have entered the cardiac circulatory support system during a cannulae-VAD connection.

The invention provides an in-vitro minimally invasive bionic circulation assistance system and a control method thereof, and relates to the field of heart assistance circulation. The system comprises an artificial heart ventricle and an artificial atrium, the artificial atrium is connected with a blood inlet tube, the blood inlet tube is provided with a one-way valve, the artificial heart ventricle is connected with the artificial atrium through an artificial atrioventricular valve and connected with a blood outlet tube through an artificial aortic valve, and the outer wall of the artificial ventricle and the outer wall of the artificial atrium are provided with a first diastolic and systolic device and a second diastolic and systolic device respectively. By arranging the diastolic and systolic devices on the outer wall of the artificial ventricle and the outer wall of the artificial atrium respectively, the artificial ventricle and the artificial atrium are diastolic and systolic or systolic and diastolic simultaneously, switching is quickly completed in a short time through the mechanical acting force, and then a real heart circulation system is simulated; the defect that the states of hydraulic driving are switched slowly is overcome.

Cardiocirculatory aiding device, as hematic pumping device able to aid the right or left ventricular or biventricular of the human body, characterised by being supplied by gas pneumatic energy, in which: i) the variation of pressure generator device systems is intended for being placed outside of the human body; ii) the pumping device of the blood (P), is conceived to be installed inside of the human body; iii) the two said devices (i,ii) are connected with at least one tubular duct of transmission of said gas, passing from the inside of the human body to the external of the same; iv) said pumping device of the blood (P) being driven by the variation of pneumatic pressure in said duct by means of two opposite expansible and retractable lungs that compress a central chamber body elastically yielding by pulses in order to cause, by means of two ducts respectively of blood entry and blood exit with unidirectional valves, the pumping of the blood.

In a method and apparatus for examination and evaluation of a blood flow in a pulmonary artery of a patient, measurement data are recorded, from which at least a part of the blood flow in the pulmonary artery is able to be re-constructed at least two-dimensionally in a plane defined by a longitudinal axis of the pulmonary artery and by an anterior-posterior direction, including at least at several diastolic points in time in the course of a heart cycle, after a closure of the pulmonary valve. The number of diastolic points for which an asymmetry in relation to the longitudinal axis of the pulmonary artery in the anterior-posterior direction exists is determined. A measure is then determined that characterizes how long, after the closure of the pulmonary valve, the aforementioned asymmetry exists.

The invention relates to medicine, namely: to cardiology, and may be used for assessment of functional condition of the human cardiovascular system (CVS) and the character of its control by the autonomic nervous system and other regulatory systems of the homeostasis. A method of non-invasive examination of the human CVS was developed, the method enabling to continuously, during a necessary period of time and quite simply with the aid of a computer and a piezoceramic tranducer (FIG. 3), record differential sphygmograms (FIG. 4) and by these sphygmograms using the method of determining the “coding” points to perform express-analysis simultaneously of two main pulse characteristics: a) rhythmicity and b) pulse oscillation of the arterial pressure (AP). The automatic disposition of the “coding” points in the averaged graph of the cardiocycle and their additional visual correction (FIG. 5) guarantee precision of determining the amplitude-temporal parameters at each recognised normal pulsation of a selected pulsogram fragment. By this fragment, the cardiac rhythm and all the amplitude-temporal cardiohemodynamic parameters will be measured and analysed, the parameters characterising the left ventricle myocardium contractile capacity as well as the resilient-elastic properties of the arterial bed vessel walls. For this purpose, the conventional units of the computer “digitizing” will be calibrated and transformed into accepted units of the blood AP measurement (mm Hg) and then, by means of integrating by respective areas of the cardiocycle graphs, the values of the blood AP pulse increment will be determined for different stages of the cardiac cycle. The continuous monitoring of the pulsogram parameter changes provides fulfillment of spectral analysis of the cardiac rhythm variability as well as of the selected cardiohemodynamic parameters. By results of the statistical and spectral analyses of the measured parameters' variability, the functional condition and the character of the subject's CVS vegetative regulation will be assessed by comparing the obtained values with the average statistical numerical values of these same parameters established for the CVS of groups of people who were selected as control subjects. The results may be used for resolving the problems of differential diagnosis of the cardiovascular diseases under clinical conditions, for individual examination of patients as well as for performing an operative medical checkup of health condition in various groups of population.

The invention discloses an AED scheduling management system and an AED scheduling management method. According to the invention, patients, volunteers and AEDs are subjected to unified management; whena patient calls for help, a plurality of volunteers and AEDs closest to the patient can be found, and navigation information can be provided, such that the volunteers and the AEDs can reach the position of the patient in the shortest time so as to improve the success rate of the treatment; particularly in the case of the multiple volunteers, the first volunteer can be instructed to directly reachthe position of the patient to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation so as to temporarily maintain the brain and heart circulation functions, and the second volunteer is notified to take the AED, andthen goes to the position of the patient so as to get the most rescue time for the patient; and the system has advantages of automated operation, unattended mode, intelligent scheduling and efficientoperation.

In one representative embodiment, a method of perfusing organs in a patient's body is provided. The method comprises isolating the visceral arteries and the visceral veins from blood circulating through the patient's heart and perfusing the visceral arteries, the visceral veins, and the abdominal organs with a perfusion fluid that is fluidly separated from the blood circulating through the patient's heart. While the visceral arteries and the visceral veins are isolated, and the visceral arteries, the visceral veins, and the abdominal organs are being perfused, the patient's blood is allowed to continue to circulate through the heart.

The invention relates to cardiovascular systems, in particular to a digital simulation method for blood backflow caused by mitral valve insufficiency. A, a four-cavity lumped parameter angiocarpy dynamic circuit model equivalent to lesser circulation system, a systemic circulation system, a left heart circulation system and a right heart circulation system is established according to the equivalent relation of hemodynamics parameters and circuit parameters; B, according to the circuit model established in the step A, an established dynamic circuit is analyzed through a state variable analysis method, and corresponding state equations are established for related nodes in the circuit; C, according to simulation needs, the corresponding parameters in the step A and the step B are set, the state equations are solved according to the circuit model arranged in the step A and the state equations arranged in the step B, and the time curve graphs of the nodes in the circuit are obtained; D, QM obtained in the step C is calculated, and the blood backflow amount VRM, the mitral valve forward output amount VFM and the mitral valve volume VM under the condition that the mitral valve insufficiency occurs are obtained.

A method of delivering cardiac stem cell and treating damaged cardiac tissue is provided. The method involves isolation of subject's cardiac circulation from the subject's systemic circulation and perfusing a solution comprising stem cells into the cardiac circuit.

A device for cardiocirculatory assistance constituting a pump for a blood flow includes a body, a pair of covers, and a pair of membranes. The device is provided with a circuit for the passage of a gas or gaseous fluid alternatively under pressure and depressurization so that a reciprocating pumping motion of the membranes is established.

The invention relates to an oesophageal electrode probe (10) for bioimpedance measurement and / or for neurostimulation; a device (100) for transoesophageal cardiological treatment and / or cardiologicaldiagnosis; and a method for the open-loop or closed-loop control of a cardiac catheter ablation device and / or a cardiac, circulatory and / or respiratory support device. The oesophageal electrode probecomprises a bioimpedance measuring device for measuring the bioimpedance of at least one part of the tissue surrounding the oesophageal electrode probe. The bioimpedance device comprises at least onefirst and one second electrode, wherein the at least one first electrode (12A) is arranged on a side (14) of the oesophageal electrode probe facing towards the heart and the at least one second electrode (12B) is arranged on a side (16) of the oesophageal electrode probe facing away from the heart. The device (100) comprises the oesophageal electrode probe (10) and a control and / or evaluation device (30), which is configured for receiving a first bioimpedance measurement signal from the at least one first electrode (12A) and a second bioimpedance measurement signal from the at least one secondelectrode (12B), and comparing same, and generating a control signal on the basis of the comparison. The control signal can be a signal for the open-loop or closed-loop control of a cardiac catheterablation device and / or a cardiac, circulatory and / or respiratory support device.

An apparatus and a method for connecting medical tubing or any other type of fluidic circuit conduits (e.g., cannulae) to a ventricular assist device (“VAD”) or any other pumping device used for blood pumping during cardiac circulatory support for vascular surgery. The apparatus and the method prevent air bubbles from entering a cardiac circulatory support system when connecting cannulae to a VAD that may later enter the blood stream of a patient during cardiac surgery, and also provide for purging any air bubbles that may have entered the cardiac circulatory support system during a cannulae-VAD connection.