Patents Examined by Debra S. Brittingham
  • Patent number: 6039755
    Abstract: Tubular ePTFE materials which are capable of being radially expanded under the influence of a radially outward force applied from the lumen of the ePTFE tubular material to substantially uniformly radially deform the ePTFE material. The ePTFE material is radially expandable to a diameter 700% its unexpanded diameter under the influence of pressures less than 6 atm while retaining the structural integrity of the ePTFE microstructure. Conservation of the structural integrity of the ePTFE material is determined by conservation of the ePTFE microstructure structural integrity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2000
    Assignee: Impra, Inc., a Division of C.R. Bard, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun J. Edwin, Fariba Hurry, Christopher E. Banas
  • Patent number: 6022375
    Abstract: A breast prosthesis in the form of an elongated body tapering off towards th ends is substantially made of a hardened plastic resin with gel properties and has a convex upper surface and a substantially planar to slightly convex lower surface, whereby the upper and the lower surfaces in a plan view of the body are delimited by two circular arcs intercepting one another at two points of interception.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2000
    Assignee: DEKUMED Gesellschaft fur Kunststoff- und Medizintechnik mbH
    Inventor: Peter Rickauer
  • Patent number: 6019784
    Abstract: This invention is directed to an expandable stent useful for implantation into an artery or the like. The stents are made using electroforming techniques in which an electrically-conductive mandrel is coated with a suitable resist material, after which the resist is exposed to an appropriate light pattern and frequency so as to form a stent pattern in the resist. The mandrel is then electroplated with a suitable stent material. The mandrel is etched away once a sufficient layer of stent material is deposited, leaving a completed stent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2000
    Assignee: Electroformed Stents, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard A. Hines
  • Patent number: 6004346
    Abstract: A prosthesis for insertion into a lumen to limit restenosis of the lumen. The prosthesis carries restenosis-limiting drugs which elute after the device is positioned in the lumen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1999
    Assignee: Medtronic, Inc.
    Inventors: Rodney G. Wolff, Vincent W. Hull
  • Patent number: 5984859
    Abstract: Auditory system components and system adapted for implantation into a human subject for reducing conductive and/or sensorineural hearing deficiency in the subject. An electrically excitable microactuator is implantable either into a fenestration formed through a promontory or a stapes footplate which respectively separate a middle ear from an inner ear of the human subject. The auditory system also includes an implantable processor for supplying an electrical signal to the microactuator, and an implantable microsensor for transmitting an electrical signal responsive to impingement of sound on the microsensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1999
    Inventor: S. George Lesinski
  • Patent number: 5913894
    Abstract: A solid woven tubular prosthesis having sufficient inherent wall stiffness so as to be radially self-supporting. The solid woven prosthesis is capable of being formed with a smooth, continuous inner wall that improves the hemodynamic flow with respect to conventional woven prosthesis, thereby facilitating the flow of fluid therethrough.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 22, 1999
    Assignee: Meadox Medicals, Inc.
    Inventor: Peter J. Schmitt
  • Patent number: 5911753
    Abstract: The present invention provides a soft-tissue prosthesis which is formed from a tubular textile substrate and a liner. The liner is affixed to the intraluminal surface of the tubular textile portion of the soft-tissue prosthesis to form a fluid-tight barrier on the intraluminal surface of the prosthesis. The liner is preferably formed from a polymer. Thus, the soft-tissue prosthesis formed in accordance with the present invention provides the advantages of both a textile prosthesis and a polymer prosthesis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1999
    Assignee: Meadox Medicals, Inc.
    Inventor: Peter J. Schmitt
  • Patent number: 5906639
    Abstract: An intraluminally implantable stent is formed of helically wound wire. The stent has a generally elongate tubular configuration and is radially expandable after implantation in a body vessel. The wire includes successively formed waves along the length of the wire. When helically wound into a tube, the waves are longitudinally nested along the longitudinal extent of the stent so as to form a densely compacted wire configuration. After radial expansion the stent maintains high radial compressive strength and wire density to retard tissue ingrowth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 25, 1999
    Assignee: Meadox Medicals, Inc.
    Inventors: James J. Rudnick, Dominik M. Wiktor
  • Patent number: 5902332
    Abstract: A plurality of expandable and deformable intraluminal vascular grafts are expanded within a blood vessel by an angioplasty balloon associated with a catheter to dilate and expand the lumen of a blood vessel. The grafts may be thin-walled tubular members having a plurality of slots disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubular members, and adjacent grafts are flexibly connected by a single connector member disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubular members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 11, 1999
    Assignee: Expandable Grafts Partnership
    Inventor: Richard A. Schatz
  • Patent number: 5897588
    Abstract: An expandable intraluminal stent having a tubular shaped member having first and second ends defining an axial passageway therethrough. The tubular shaped member has a multiplicity of slots helically formed thereabout that are preferably provided in rows wherein the slots of each row are arranged in an end to end fashion. The tubular shaped member is initially disposable in a radially collapsed configuration such that the device may be passed into the lumen of a blood vessel, and subsequently expand to an operative configuration wherein it will frictionally engage the surrounding blood vessel wall to hold the device in fixed position within the blood vessel lumen. In an alternative embodiment, the stent is designed to accommodate a bifurcated vessel having a collateral vessel extending therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1999
    Inventors: Cheryl C. Hull, Michael D. Crocker
  • Patent number: 5895419
    Abstract: The present invention includes a metallic coating on portions of the prosthesis to enhance the overall acceptability of the implantable device or fabric/sutures used to implant the prosthesis. The preferred metal is silver, which is applied to surfaces which are exposed to the heart tissue. The silver-treated portions of these devices inhibit or greatly reduce colonization of endocarditis-causing bacteria without impacting the overall biocompatibility of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1999
    Assignee: St. Jude Medical, Inc.
    Inventors: Katherine S. Tweden, William R. Holmberg, Darrin J. Bergman, Terry L. Shepherd
  • Patent number: 5891190
    Abstract: An endovascular support device for treatment of chronic restenosis or other vascular narrowing is disclosed together with a method of manufacture and a method for delivering a plurality of such devices to an affected area of a vessel. In a preferred embodiment, the endovascular support device comprises a unitary wire-like structure configured to form a plurality of upper and lower peaks which may be compressed for delivery to an affected area of a coronary or peripheral vessel in a human, and then expanded to maintain a passageway through the vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1999
    Inventor: Michael D. Boneau
  • Patent number: 5879382
    Abstract: An endovascular support device for treatment of chronic restenosis or other vascular narrowing is disclosed together with a method of manufacture and a method for delivering a plurality of such devices to an affected area of a vessel. In a preferred embodiment, the endovascular support device comprises a unitary wire-like structure configured to form a plurality of upper and lower peaks which may be compressed for delivery to an affected area of a coronary or peripheral vessel in a human, and then expanded to maintain a passageway through the vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 9, 1999
    Inventor: Michael D. Boneau
  • Patent number: 5876445
    Abstract: Methods for forming, shaping and heat treating stents for reinforcement of the lumen of peristaltic organs. The stent is formed by knitting preferably a nitinol wire into a pattern of overlapping loops selected such that from a relaxed state each row of loops may shift axially relative to and independently of the rows on either side. This local lengthening and shortening accommodates peristalsis of the organ without migrating within the organ.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 2, 1999
    Assignee: Boston Scientific Corporation
    Inventors: Erik Andersen, Ernst Peter Strecker, Kathleen L. Hess, Susanne Urhoj
  • Patent number: 5876449
    Abstract: A stent for transluminal implantation in hollow organs, in particular in blood vessels, ureters, oesophagae or gall tracts, comprising a substantially tubular body is described. The stent can be transformed from a compressed state with a first cross-sectional diameter into an expanded state with a second enlarged cross-sectional diameter. The wall of the tubular body has apertures which repeat both in the longitudinal direction and also in the peripheral direction of the stent and permit the expansion. Each aperture has at least one section which is arranged obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the stent, both in the compressed state and also in the expanded state of the stent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 2, 1999
    Assignee: Variomed AG
    Inventors: Erhard Starck, Rainer Trapp
  • Patent number: 5873905
    Abstract: Methods of artificially lining a vessel, especially an artery, of a medical patient to address the existence of a flow-inhibiting atheroma and to significantly alleviate the probability of restenosis, and the resulting products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1999
    Assignee: EndoVascular Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Plaia, Vincent A. Reger, Gregory N. Nordgren
  • Patent number: 5871536
    Abstract: An intraluminal vascular graft structure is disclosed which is structured to be deployable within a vessel without use of hooks or barbs. The intraluminal vascular graft structure comprises a tubular body formed of a biocompatible material and a frame structure, having both circumferential support and longitudinal support structures, which support the graft at a distal end thereof and upwardly from the distal end. The vascular graft may also include attachment means which initiate an inflammatory response with the inner wall of the vessel to promote attachment of the device to the vessel wall. The intraluminal vascular graft may include one or more leg portions suitable for repairing bifurcated vessels which, in conjunction with the circumferential and longitudinal support structures, assure positioning and support of the vascular graft within the vessel and against the crotch of the bifurcation. Also disclosed is a method of deployment of the vascular graft within the vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1999
    Inventor: Harrison M. Lazarus
  • Patent number: 5871543
    Abstract: An improved tibial prosthesis is provided for a prosthetic knee wherein the tibial prosthesis includes a mobile bearing member designed to better accommodate a natural range of flex knee motion and force loads applied to the knee joint. The improved tibial prosthesis comprises a tibial component defining a support tray for receiving and supporting a bearing member which in turn defines upwardly presented medial and lateral condylar recesses for respective seated engagement with medial and lateral condyles of a femoral prosthesis. A short lock rim of part-circular shape projects upwardly from the periphery of the tibial support tray, at the medial end thereof, to engage and constrain the bearing member for rotation within the lock rim through a short arcuate path of motion relative to a center axis defined by the geometry of the lock rim, thereby permitting a small degree of anterior-posterior movement of the bearing member lateral end relative to the tibial tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1999
    Inventor: Aaron A. Hofmann
  • Patent number: 5865845
    Abstract: The invention provides a spinal disc implant comprising a ring shaped body including a first pair of opposed substantially parallel sides spaced apart by a second pair of opposed sides to define a central bore. A first one of the second pair of sides defines a substantially arcuate curve joining a first end of the first pair of sides. A second one of the second pair of opposed sides substantially linearly joins a second end of the first pair of sides. The upper and lower surfaces of the ring shaped body have a plurality of teeth extending therefrom for engaging adjacent vertebrae. The implant is made of a biocompatible metal such as titanium or an alloy thereof, and the first and second sides tapering from the second end to the first end. The interior space may have a porous hydroxyapatite block shaped to fill the interior space. The porous hydroxyapatite substance helps the prosthesis integrate into the vertebral structure by allowing one grow into the pores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1999
    Inventor: John S. Thalgott
  • Patent number: 5863295
    Abstract: A hip prosthesis for implanting into the medullary canal of a femur, which comprises a stem for implanting into the canal of the femur, the stem having a proximal end and a distal end, the stem also including a proximal locking zone substantially adjacent the proximal end, the proximal locking zone including a proximal locking surface which circumferentially press-fits within the canal of the femur and a neck extending at an angle from the proximal end of the stem for receiving the femoral head of the prosthesis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1999
    Assignee: Implex Corporation
    Inventors: Robert G. Averill, Robert C. Cohen, Rafail Zubok