Abstract: A scrubber pad for a rotating epithelial removal tool is made of a single piece of substantially rigid plastic which has formed thereon a scrubbing surface equipped with a radial channel or channels to retain cell debris and lubricating fluid. An eccentrically located fluid supply conduit can provide additional fluid and can also serve with the radial channels as a visual centering indicator to the patient. The edges of the scrubbing surface can be undercut to give them a desired flexibility.

Abstract: A tight, sterile connection between flexible tubing and a connector on a medical device is produced by pre-assembling the tubing and the connector, heat-shrinking the tubing onto the connector, and then sterilizing the connection while maintaining compression of the tubing against the connector.

Abstract: The obstruction of a curved blood manifold window in a blood oxygenator by oxygenation fibers which lie along a chord of a curved window when wound upon the oxygenator core is avoided by recessing the manifold wall portions most closely adjacent the window sufficiently so that the fibers lying on that chord remain sufficiently spaced from those closest wall portions to allow blood flow between those wall portions and the closest fibers.

Abstract: A three-stage cardiotomy filter/defoamer dispenses with the conventional tricot sock covering by forming the secondary defoamer as a small-pore foam impregnated with a much heavier concentration of defoaming agent than the primary large-pore defoamer.

Abstract: An accurate real-time volume measurement of the blood content of a soft-shell venous reservoir is obtained by computing the volume from the weight of the blood in the reservoir modified by the hematocrit of the blood.

Abstract: In a connector for a hardshell venous reservoir, improved positioning and better line holding ability is provided by forming a line-retaining barb on only the upper half of the connector. A dual-size or combo connector using this principle is also disclosed.

Abstract: Oxygen transfer to blood plasma in a blood oxygenator using a microporous membrane exposed to blood on one side and to oxygen on the other is facilitated by bonding an oxygen-carrying chemical such as hematin or a perfluorocarbon to at least the blood-contacting surface of the membrane.

Abstract: In a venous/cardiotomy reservoir, substantially accurate volume indication and post-operative use are provided while preventing introduction of air into the reservoir outlet, by interposing a collapsible bag between the underside of a rigid reservoir housing and the reservoir outlet.

Abstract: A variable-height insole system for a shoe includes a soft-flexible insole and a plurality of heel supporting members in the shoe under the insole. The heel supporting members generally increase in hardness in a downward direction. Selectable lift inserts insertable between the heel supporting members have the greatest hardness.

Abstract: A tight seal is achieved in a blood oxygenator between the potting of the heat exchanger fibers and the rim of the heat exchanger container by extending the potting material over the rim and down, so that when the potting material shrinks during cure, the potting will become prestressed in the sealing direction against an outwardly facing wall of the container. The invention also provides a ring coextensive with the rim and spaced therefrom. The potting extends into the ring. This forms an air gap between the rim and the ring through which potting can extend. As a result, there is no possible leakage path between the blood and the heat exchange medium. Any leak that does occur discharges to atmosphere outside the container.

Abstract: A fully flexible annuloplasty ring is temporarily stiffened during implantation by inserting a withdrawable stiffening wire into a lumen of the ring. The annuloplasty ring has a lumen which is able to hold the stiffener prior to and during insertion. The stiffener includes a portion extending out of the lumen which can be pulled to withdraw the stiffener once the implant has been implanted.

Abstract: An axial-flow blood pump has a rotor suspended in ball-and-cup bearings which are blood-cooled but not actively blood-lubricated. The ball-and-cup structures are made of highly heat-conductive material and are in heat-transferring contact with heat-conductive stator blades that serve as heat sinks for the bearings. The ball-and-cup structures are radially much smaller than the stator blades. The ball-and-cup interface has so small a gap that the ball-to-cup structures present an essentially continuous surface to the blood flow.

Abstract: A clogging phenomenon in the surface layer of the contact face of a soft plastic-and-abrasive composite for polishing painted surfaces, which reduces the efficiency of the polishing work, is alleviated by mixing into the soft plastic backing material of the composite containing abrasive fine particles, non-abrasive globular particles preferably formed out of bubble material. The globular particles are rotatable in the surface layer of the contact face of the soft backing when the composite is in rubbing contact with the surface to be polished. Water or a surfactant may be interposed between the surface to be polished and the composite. The surface to be polished is rubbed with the composite to remove contaminating substances adhering to the surface to be polished.

Abstract: An air gap, venturi-type mixer for mixing a liquid chemical with water includes a readily field-exchangeable collimator, water seal and venturi unit to accommodate different flow rates. The venturi unit includes a funnel with slightly inclined walls that direct a misaligned collimated water stream into the vena contracta of the venturi without reducing its speed or entraining any air.

Abstract: In annuloplastic surgery, the holder which supports the annuloplasty ring during the suturing of the ring to a heart valve annulus is released from its handle, and reattached for subsequent removal, without rotary or axially compressive stress on the holder. This is accomplished by inserting laterally movable locking tabs from the handle into the holder. The locking tabs are the ends of a Y-shaped clip which translates the axial movement of a locking button on the handle into a transverse holder-engaging movement.

Abstract: In a capacitor-based energy storage system, in which the capacitor charging voltage is on the same order of magnitude as the system output voltage, the time between recharges for a given energy release rate is extended by producing an intermediate regulated capacitor output of a voltage having a lower order of magnitude and then stepping that voltage back up to the system output voltage through the use of an inverter. Regulation of the capacitor output voltage may be achieved through the use of a capacitor-voltage-dependent variable-duty-cycle switching transistor and an averaging network, which together maintain a level inverter input voltage independently of the capacitor voltage. The cycle control is powered by a rechargeable battery which recharges from the inverter input but cannot drive the inverter, and current and temperature sensing means are provided to control the transistor so as to limit the current draw through the transistor and to prevent battery overheating during operation.

Abstract: An artificial lung is created by taking an animal lung, filling either its circulatory system or its respiratory system with a hardenable liquid, hardening the liquid, then dissolving the natural lung tissue, coating the hardened liquid with a material forming a gas permeable membrane, removing the hardenable fluid, and enclosing the resulting artificial lung structure in a fluid-tight pouch.

Abstract: A miter is aligned and locked during assembly without the use of tools by engaging a dowel perpendicular to the faces of the mitered parts with a corresponding bore while the mitered parts are non-coplanar, and then twisting the parts about the dowel axis into a coplanar position in which they are interlocked by a key on one part cooperating with a recess on the other.