Abstract: A one-piece expandable flat bearing structure formed by at least partially elastically deformable struts which are separated from each other by openings in the bearing structure. The bearing structure can assume at least one compressed condition and at least one expanded condition and has at least one expansion direction. The bearing structure has anchor regions, from which spring struts, which are elastically resilient with respect to the anchor regions, extend to a resiliently deflectable end of the spring struts, a hinge strut adjoining said end. The spring struts and the hinge struts are of such a configuration and arrangement that both the compressed condition of the bearing structure and also the expanded condition of the bearing structure is stabilized by a spring action emanating from the spring struts.

Abstract: A voltage-resistant switch comprising a first switching contact and a second switching contact, and an MOS switching transistor having a source terminal, a drain terminal and a gate terminal, wherein the source terminal of the MOS switching transistor is connected to the second switching contact, and the drain terminal of the MOS switching transistor is connected to the first switching contact. The voltage-resistant switch has a switching monitoring unit with a control input and a protection output and a protection switch with a switching input, wherein the switching input is connected to the protection output of the switching monitoring unit and the protection switch is arranged and adapted to electrically connect the gate terminal of the first MOS switching transistor to the source terminal of the first MOS switching transistor in dependence on a protection signal.

Abstract: An apparatus according to the invention for the classification of physiological events has a signal input for the input of a physiological signal representing or constituting a physiological event and a classification unit 1 for classifying the physiological signal on the basis of its signal shape.

Abstract: A contact arrangement for connecting an electrode line to an implantable device, comprises an electrical connecting socket with a socket longitudinal axis and at least one opening for the insertion of a plug along the socket longitudinal axis. The arrangement includes at least one electrically conductive spring contact element, arranged and adapted to deflect resiliently elastically outwardly upon insertion of a plug, by compression in a spring deflection direction extending transversely with respect to the socket longitudinal axis and providing a spring force acting in opposition to the compression. The arrangement has a spring contact element with an integral metallic spring contact tongue, with spring contact tongue portions which extend transversely with respect to the spring deflection direction and which are connected together by turn portions. The turn portions occurring in immediate succession in the spring deflection direction are turned towards each other with respectively opposite turn directions.

Abstract: The invention concerns a catheter for intravascular application, comprising a shaft extending along the catheter longitudinal axis from the proximal end to the distal end and having a fluid-tight shaft wall and at least one lumen which is adapted to guide a fluid and at least one electrically conductive wire which extends from the proximal end at least into the proximity of the distal end of the catheter along the catheter longitudinal axis.

Abstract: The invention relates to a pacing system, in particular an implantable pacemaker for pacing multiple chambers of the heart and sensing signals from the myocardium of multiple chambers of the heart which will allow the verification of a cardiac evoked response resulting from a delivered charge to the heart tissue comprising: a preamplifier having a) a DC coupled buffer amplifier first stage, comprising at least one buffer amplifier for each of the at least two electrode inputs, b) a switch matrix following the buffer amplifiers allowing sensing of the differential between any two of the at least two electrode inputs, c) a next stage of differential amplifiers providing gain to either the differential between any two electrode inputs or one input to ground, and d) a next stage filter stage.

Abstract: The invention concerns a medical device for implantation in a body, comprising a stimulation unit, a sleep detector unit having at least one signal input which is adapted to detect a sleep condition of the body and to produce a sleep signal, an apnea detector unit which is adapted to detect sleep apnea in dependence on at least one body signal caused by the body and to produce an apnea signal, a therapy unit which is at least indirectly connected to the stimulation unit! the sleep detector unit and to the apnea detector unit and which is adapted to produce, in dependence on the apnea signal and the sleep signal, at least one apnea therapy signal which represents therapy information for preventing and/or for the treatment of sleep apnea, and to send same to the stimulation unit.

Abstract: A device for electrostimulation of body tissue through a stimulation electrode, in which a stimulation outcome is detected, at least after delivery of a stimulation pulse, on the basis of detecting a drop in a voltage over time or a rise in a short-circuit current over time at a capacitance including at least one Hemholtz capacitance produced on the surface of the stimulation electrode in conjunction with surrounding body fluid or the body tissue, and wherein the drop in voltage or the rise in short-circuit current is representative of a characteristic drop in a myocardium impedance of the body tissue.

Abstract: A biatrial triple-chamber cardiac pacemaker has at least one sensing unit for sense events of a first atrium and a ventricle of a heart and at least one stimulation unit which is adapted to produce stimulation pulses to a second atrium and the ventricle, and a control which is connected to the sensing unit and the stimulation unit and is adapted to evaluate at least the atrial sense events (AR-Sense) associated with the first atrium and the ventricular sense events (V-Sense) associated with the ventricle, for actuation of the stimulation unit, which is actuated so that the delivery of a left-atrial stimulation pulse is suppressed if previously a ventricular sense event occurs in a crosstalk window which adjoins a postatrial ventricular blanking time and at the same time the distance in respect of time to the last ventricular event ascertained outside a crosstalk window, to the next possible ventricular stimulation event, is greater than a predetermined maximum value.

Abstract: An implantable electrode line having a proximal and a distal end, an outer electrode line surface and an electrode line longitudinal axis. The implantable electrode line is characterized in that the electrode line in the region of the distal end has a surface region with a microstructure, the surface region being provided for lateral contact with a vessel wall and being arranged at a spacing relative to the distal end which measures a plurality of electrode line diameters. The microstructure is formed by a plurality of microstructure elements which are arranged on the electrode line surface and which are distributed over the surface region both in the longitudinal direction and also in the peripheral direction. The microstructure elements are adapted, upon contact with a vessel wall, to counteract displacement of the electrode line along the electrode line longitudinal axis.

Abstract: Certain embodiments of the present invention concern an implantable electrode line having a proximal and a distal end, an outer electrode line surface and an electrode line longitudinal axis. The implantable electrode line is characterized in that the electrode line in the region of the distal end has a surface region with a microstructure, the surface region being provided for lateral contact with a vessel wall and being arranged at a spacing relative to the distal end which measures a plurality of electrode line diameters. The microstructure is formed by a plurality of microstructure elements which are arranged on the electrode line surface and which are distributed over the surface region both in the longitudinal direction and also in the peripheral direction and which have a component extending radially, wherein the microstructure elements are of a radial extent which is a fraction of the electrode line diameter.

Abstract: A catheter for cardiovascular application includes an elongated catheter shank; a lumen inside the catheter shank; a mandrel sleeve that extends in the lumen; a guide wire which runs in the mandrel sleeve and is extendable through a sluice gate out of the catheter at a distal end thereof; and a sealing unit for sealing the lumen, the sealing unit being disposed proximally in front of the sluice gate and reversibly pierced by the replaceable mandrel sleeve.

Abstract: An electrostimulator having electrode connections which are to be connected, at least at times, to a stimulation unit and to a detection unit of the electrostimulator. The stimulation unit is adapted to generate electrostimulation pulses for the stimulation of body tissue and to deliver the electrostimulation pulses to at least one of the electrode connections. The detection unit is adapted to detect successful stimulation of body tissue on the basis of an electrical signal occurring at least one of the electrode connections. The electrostimulator is adapted to record an electrical signal representative of an intracardial electrocardiogram by way of the at least one electrode connection. Arranged between the electrode line connection and the detection unit is a high pass filter with a lower limit frequency of greater than 100 Hz, and the detection unit is adapted to evaluate the high pass-filtered electrical signal.

Abstract: A stent comprises a tubular base body which is open on the front sides thereof and has a peripheral wall that is at least partially covered with a coating system consisting of at least one polymer carrier and at least one pharmacologically active substance, which is released into the surrounding tissue once the stent has been implanted in the human or animal body. The invention creates a coating system which enables an optimum local application of the active ingredient. A concentration of the substance, a morphological structure of the carrier(s), a material modification of the carrier(s), and/or a layer thickness of the carrier(s), are predetermined in the longitudinal direction of the stent, in such a way that the elution varies locally in the longitudinal direction of the stent and is determined according to the pathophysiological and/or rheological conditions to be expected during the application.

Abstract: An intracardial electrode lead comprises a distal end, a proximal end and an elongate electrode lead body which includes a helical coil having a lumen and a sheath enclosing the helical coil. The distal end of the electrode lead carries a an electrode. The electrode is electrically connected to a connection at the proximal end of the electrode lead for communication with a medical device. The distal end has a sleeve with a proximal end and a distal end, which is enclosed by the distal end of the helical coil at the sleeve proximal end and contacts a lip seal at its distal end. The lip seal elastically closes a distal opening of the lumen. The sleeve is also electrically connected to the electrode, which has an external surface and projects distally beyond the lip seal.

Abstract: An epicardial electrode which is suitable, in particular, for use with a cardiac stimulation device, comprises an electrode body which has a stimulation surface adapted to bear against the cardiac tissue and to stimulate a part of the heart, that is to say a partial region of the heart, and at least one fixing element for fixing the stimulation surface to the cardiac tissue. The at least one fixing element is adapted for engagement into the cardiac tissue. The epicardial electrode can be secured to the outside and in particular to the outer skin of the cardiac muscle (epicardium) without being sewn to the cardiac muscle like a patch electrode. Only the fixing element has to be brought into engagement with the cardiac tissue.

Abstract: A one-piece expandable flat bearing structure formed by at least partially elastically deformable struts which are separated from each other by openings in the bearing structure. The bearing structure can assume at least one compressed condition and at least one expanded condition and has at least one expansion direction. The bearing structure has anchor regions, from which spring struts, which are elastically resilient with respect to the anchor regions, extend to a resiliently deflectable end of the spring struts, a hinge strut adjoining said end. The spring struts and the hinge struts are of such a configuration and arrangement that both the compressed condition of the bearing structure and also the expanded condition of the bearing structure is stabilized by a spring action emanating from the spring struts.

Abstract: The invention concerns a stent comprising a longitudinal axis (12) and a peripheral wall (14) which is formed at least over a part of the length of the stent (10) by a lattice-like carrier structure (24) which is open at two ends. The carrier structure includes at least one bar (16) extending helically around the longitudinal axis in such a way as to provide a helical primary shape (26) for the peripherally extending bar with more than one helical turn. Besides the helical primary shape (26) the bar has a zigzag-like or meander-shaped secondary shape (30) with reversal points and associated reversal portions (32), between which extend bar portions (34) of the peripherally extending bar with an extension component in the longitudinal direction of the stent.

Abstract: An ablation device for cardiac tissue, in particular for forming a circular lesion around a vessel orifice in the heart, comprises a catheter which, in the region of its distal end, is provided with an abutment device for holding the distal end on a cardiac vessel orifice, and a linear ablation applicator which is disposed proximally or distally relative to the abutment device of the catheter and is movable from a straight passive position into a radially expanded, approximately circular-arc-type encircling ablation position.

Abstract: A signal evaluation method for detecting QRS complexes in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals comprises the following steps: sampling of the ECG signal (4) and conversion into discrete signal values (x(n)) in chronological order; comparing the signal values (xf(n), xfq(n)) to a threshold function (K(n)) adaptively determined therefrom; determining a frequency number (D(n)) within a defined segment of the consecutive signal values, by which signal values (xf(n), xfq(n)) preferably fall short of the threshold function (K(n)); comparing the determined frequency number (D(n)) to a defined threshold (?), wherein an undershoot of the threshold (?) is significant for apresence of a QRS complex (5, 6, 7) in the defined segment of the ECG signal (4).