Abstract: An implantable medical device that has a source of renewable power and has a mechanical structure to expand or collapse at a selected rate and volume to modify intracranial pressure and cerebral fluid circulation. The implantable medical device may be programmed to increase intracranial pressure variably to a prescribed amount in the range of several pascals cyclically and at a prescribed frequency, notably at 0.05 Hz, to produces cyclic intracranial pressure variations. Typically those amplitudes and frequencies drive the glymphatic flow in the brain during deep sleep. This allows the implantable medical device to provide pressure oscillations at prescribed time, for example during NREM sleep, that boost glymphatic CSF circulation in the brain, and which remove toxic and metabolic waste from the brain. The glymphatic circulation may protect patients from neurodegenerative diseases, most notably Alzheimer's Disease.

Abstract: A device that can be placed within or near the cranial vault that fluctuates in size in response to changes in CSF pressure is disclosed. The device diminishes in size when CSF pressures rise and increases in size as CSF pressures diminish. The device has the effect of reducing the flow of CSF occurring in the foramen magnum and provides an alternative to craniovertebral decompression in Chiari I patients. The device may have applications in other neurologic illnesses associated with abnormal CSF flow, such as Idiopathic Syringomyelia, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and CSF dural leaks.

Abstract: A device that can be placed within or near the cranial vault that fluctuates in size in response to changes in CSF pressure is disclosed. The device diminishes in size when CSF pressures rise and increases in size as CSF pressures diminish. The device has the effect of reducing the flow of CSF occurring in the foramen magnum and provides an alternative to craniovertebral decompression in Chiari I patients. The device may have applications in other neurologic illnesses associated with abnormal CSF flow, such as Idiopathic Syringomyelia, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and CSF dural leaks.

Abstract: A device that can be placed within or near the cranial vault that fluctuates in size in response to changes in CSF pressure is disclosed. The device diminishes in size when CSF pressures rise and increases in size as CSF pressures diminish. The device has the effect of reducing the flow of CSF occurring in the foramen magnum and provides an alternative to craniovertebral decompression in Chiari I patients. The device may have applications in other neurologic illnesses associated with abnormal CSF flow, such as Idiopathic Syringomyelia, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and CSF dural leaks.

Abstract: A device that can be placed within or near the cranial vault that fluctuates in size in response to changes in CSF pressure is disclosed. The device diminishes in size when CSF pressures rise and increases in size as CSF pressures diminish. The device has the effect of reducing the flow of CSF occurring in the foramen magnum and provides an alternative to craniovertebral decompression in Chiari I patients. The device may have applications in other neurologic illnesses associated with abnormal CSF flow, such as Idiopathic Syringomyelia, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and CSF dural leaks.

Abstract: A device that can be placed within or near the cranial vault that fluctuates in size in response to changes in CSF pressure is disclosed. The device diminishes in size when CSF pressures rise and increases in size as CSF pressures diminish. The device has the effect of reducing the flow of CSF occurring in the foramen magnum and provides an alternative to craniovertebral decompression in Chiari I patients. The device may have applications in other neurologic illnesses associated with abnormal CSF flow, such as Idiopathic Syringomyelia, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and CSF dural leaks.

Abstract: A device for controlled orientation of a person's cervical spine that is compatible with medical imaging machines. The device is capable of rotation about the axis of a patient's spinal column independent of, or in addition to, flexion/extension of a patient's spinal column. The device may incorporate locking mechanisms to secure rotational orientation and may include quantitative indicators of the degree of rotation.

Abstract: A patient support and software evaluate spinal instability by controlled isocentric rotation of the spine and measurement of rotation among vertebra to detect damaged vertebra having disproportionately large rotations. The patient support comprises a first support, adapted to support the shoulders of a patient, and a second rotatable support adapted to support the hips and legs of the patient.

Abstract: A patient support and software evaluate spinal instability by controlled isocentric rotation of the spine and measurement of rotation among vertebra to detect damaged vertebra having disproportionately large rotations.

Abstract: A patient support and software evaluate spinal instability by controlled isocentric rotation of the spine and measurement of rotation among vertebra to detect damaged vertebra having disproportionately large rotations.

Abstract: A trocar and catheter assembly for automatically disarming the trocar after placement of the catheter into a patient's blood vessel includes a spring urging retraction of the trocar and a releasable retainer mechanism for maintaining the trocar in an extended position during insertion of the catheter into the blood vessel. The catheter is removably mounted to a handle which defines an internal passage. Disengaging the handle from the catheter after placement of the catheter into the blood vessel actuates the releasable retainer mechanism for allowing the trocar to be drawn into the handle passage under the influence of a spring, to enclose the sharpened end of the trocar after use.

Abstract: A retractable needle medical assembly includes a barrel and a plunger assembly defining an internal passageway. A sleeve is mounted to the barrel and extends into the internal passageway defined by the plunger assembly. An actuator member, in the form of an actuator tube, is mounted within the sleeve toward its rearward end, and includes a trigger which can either be manually engaged by the user or engaged by the plunger when the plunger is in its full-forward position relative to the barrel. A hub is received within the sleeve passage, and a spring bears against the hub so as to urge the hub to a rearward, retracted position. The actuator tube engages the hub so as to maintain the hub in a forward position, and a needle assembly consisting of a needle and a head is engaged with the hub by the user prior to operation of the assembly.

Abstract: A retractable needle medical assembly includes a barrel and a plunger assembly defining an internal passageway within which a retraction member is mounted. The retraction member is biased into the passageway, by means of a spring or a vacuum located within the passageway. The medical assembly further includes a needle assembly consisting of a needle mounted to a hub. The hub is releasably engaged with the barrel. In one embodiment, an automatic retraction system is provided for engaging the retraction member with the hub upon movement of the plunger assembly toward the hub, and automatically releasing engagement between the hub and the barrel. Final movement of the plunger assembly toward the needle assembly disengages a retaining ring which retains the retraction member in position at the end of the passageway. The retraction member and needle assembly are then drawn into the passageway, to enclose the end of the needle to prevent accidental contact therewith and subsequent reuse of the medical assembly.

Abstract: A trocar and catheter assembly for automatically disarming the trocar after placement of the catheter into a patient's blood vessel includes a spring urging retraction of the trocar and a releasable retainer mechanism for maintaining the trocar in an extended position during insertion of the catheter into the blood vessel. In one embodiment, the catheter is removably mounted to a handle which defines an internal passage. Disengaging the handle from the catheter after placement of the catheter into the blood vessel actuates the releasable retainer mechanism for allowing the trocar to be drawn into the handle passage under the influence of a spring, to enclose the sharpened end of the trocar after use. In another embodiment, the insertion device is in the form of a pair of wings which are movable between a closed position and an open position. The wings are in their closed position and grasped by the user when inserting the catheter into the blood vessel, and are thereafter moved to their open position.

Abstract: A prosthesis consisting of a flexible thin-walled sleeve for reinforcing and repairing a damaged vessel and a process of placing the flexible sleeve in the vessel by collapsing the sleeve radially onto an expandable and contractable member and encasing the member and sleeve in a sheath; and then sliding the sleeve in place in a vessel covering the damaged area of the vessel and removing the sheath; then expanding the expandable member and the sleeve so that the sleeve covers the damaged area and forms a sealed interface on its outer peripheral ends with the inner peripheral surface of the vessel to thereby provide a bridging passage across the damaged area in the vessel. The device provides a process to reinforce or repair weakened, damaged, narrowed blood vessels or to divert flow in branching vessels. The sleeve is a flexible, plastic, thin-walled sleeve molded with various types of ribs and reinforcements to be used as an endovascular prosthesis.

Abstract: A safety syringe includes a protective sheath disposed within the interior of the body portion of the syringe. A needle extends from the body portion of the syringe when the syringe is in an armed condition. A biasing mechanism, such as a stretched coiled spring, is connected to the upper end of the needle and tends to draw the needle into the protective sheath. A releasable retainer mechanism engages a detent formed on the upper end of the needle to retain the needle in its extended position against the biasing force of the spring. After use, the releasable retainer mechanism is actuated either by the user or in response to movement of the syringe plunger, to release the detent formed on the needle and to cause the needle to be withdrawn into the protective sheath to prevent accidental contact with the sharpened end of the needle.