10 results about "Surgical procedures" patented technology

A heart valve prosthesis that can be quickly and easily implanted during a surgical procedure is provided. The prosthetic valve has a base stent that is deployed at a treatment site, and a valve component configured to quickly connect to the base stent. The base stent may take the form of a self- or balloon-expandable stent that expands outward against the native valve with or without leaflet excision. The valve component has a non-expandable prosthetic valve and a self- or balloon-expandable coupling stent for attachment to the base stent, thereby fixing the position of the valve component relative to the base stent. The prosthetic valve may be a commercially available to valve with a sewing ring and the coupling stent attaches to the sewing ring. The system is particularly suited for rapid deployment of heart valves in a conventional open-heart surgical environment. A catheter-based system and method for deployment is provided.

A retractor may be used during spinal surgery. The retractor may include a frame and one or more retractor blades. Each retractor blade may include a coupling arm, a retainer, and a retraction component. The coupling arms may be coupled to the frame such that the coupling arms are able to move inward or outwards relative to the frame. The retainer may secure the retraction component to the coupling arm. In some embodiments, the retraction blades may be made of a radiolucent material that allows radiological images to be taken during a surgical procedure with the retractor in place. A position of retraction components relative to the frame may be changed during a surgical procedure. One or more of the retraction components may be replaced during a surgical procedure without removing the retractor from the patient.

The present invention is a brace or spinal implant that can be inserted into vertebra that has had a cavity surgically created therein. The trapezoidal shaped spinal implant includes an opening that allows the surgical team to view the dura mater prior to packing the implant with osteogenic substances.

There is provided an apparatus (10) and method for maintaining manuary access to a sufflated body cavity of a patient through a fenestration formed in the patient's body tissue during a minimally invasive surgical procedure. The apparatus (10) generally comprises a seal section (100) and a sheath section (200) coupled thereto. The seal section (100) includes an endless loop portion (110) that defines an opening (120). The sheath section (200) includes a mouth portion (210), a glove portion (230), and a pliable intermediate portion (220) extending therebetween. The intermediate portion (220) maintains in reconfigurable manner a substantially gas impermeable barrier between the mouth and glove portions (210, 230) when the glove portion (230) is passed through the opening (120) into the body cavity responsive to manuary actuation. The passage of the glove portion (230) through the opening (120) biases at least a part of the intermediate portion (220) to engage the patient's body tissue immediately bounding the fenestration, whereby the sufflation of the body cavity is substantially preserved during the minimally invasive surgical procedure.

Surgical correction of presbyopia and hyperopia by a circularly distributed assembly of mini-bridges implanted between the interior surfaces of the ciliary muscle and the exterior surface of the lens capsule, for augmenting the transmission of the contraction force of the ciliary muscle/zonule assembly to the lens capsule. The lens is symmetrically squeezed by mini-bridges acting in concert with the ciliary muscle thus changing the curvature of the lens. The mini-bridges are composite synthetic muscles comprising either passive biocompatible mini-bridges made with polymeric gels, silicone polymers or a composite, electromagnetically or mechanically deployable mini-bridges, inflatable balloons or synthetic muscles. The surgical procedure comprises using a ciliary muscle relaxant to stretch the lens/zonules/ciliary muscle assembly. An ultrasonic biomicroscope (UBM) is then used to enable the surgeon to see the area for implantation and the mini-bridges and thus perform endoscopic or incisional surgery to implant the mini-bridges in and around zonular cavities.

Improved assemblies, systems, and methods provide safeguarding against tissue injury during surgical procedures and/or identify nerve damage occurring prior to surgery and/or verify range of motion or attributes of muscle contraction during reconstructive surgery. Embodiments of methods according to the present invention provide the ability to intra-operatively simulate post-operative physiologic function of a body part. Such methods may be used during various surgical procedures, including nerve transfer procedures. Included are one or more steps of confirming paralysis or a weakened condition of a body part, confirming responsivity or operability of transfer tissue to supplement the functionality of the paralyzed or weakened part, and intra-operatively simulating post-operative functionality of the transfer tissue to enhance and/or predict the outcome of the surgical procedure.

This invention relates to an osteogenic device for the de novo induction of bone formation in a mammal. The device contains a at least one transforming growth factor—&bgr;3 isoform and a retention matrix. The device is introduced by direct injection or surgical implantation into an area where de novo bone formation is desired and, once implanted, the retention matrix acts to retain the TGF-&bgr;3 isoform at its place of introduction and forms a scaffold for generated bone, the induction of which is promoted by the TGF-&bgr;3 isoform. The device may be used to induce bone growth where bone has been debrided in a surgical procedure and it may also be used to transform neoplastic primary and/or metastatic secondary masses into bone thus facilitating surgical debridement thereof.

An implantable electrode arrangement for a cochlear implant system is described. The arrangement includes an electrode array with an outer surface having electrode contacts to apply cochlear stimulation signals to target neural tissue within an implanted patient cochlea. An electrode lead delivers the cochlear stimulation signals from an implanted signal processor to the electrode array. An electrode transition section includes a distal end portion of the electrode lead that is connected to a basal end portion of the electrode array. An electrode storage device contains the electrode transition section and is secured at an electrode opening in an outer surface of the patient cochlea. The electrode storage device is controllable after being surgically implanted to further insert an additional section of the electrode array from the electrode storage device into the patient cochlea and thereby implant a greater portion of the electrode array more deeply into the patient cochlea.