Abstract: An implantable device or endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent, having a sheath and a method of forming the sheath are provided. The sheath may be used for the delivery of an active ingredient. The sheath may have a selected pattern of interstices for allowing a fluid to seep through the sheath in the direction of the pattern created.

Abstract: A biomaterial is provided which is suitable for use in surgery in a human patient. It includes a coherent layer of non-human collagenous tissue which has been subjected to glutaraldehyde tanning so as to include cross-linked collagen fibrils, and a reinforcement of synthetic material embedded within the coherent layer. The synthetic material has structure features for promoting the embedding, the synthetic material having on average in situ more than 50 of the features per square centimeter.

Abstract: A multi layered artificial spinal disc that can be surgically implanted to replace a damaged natural spinal disc. The top and bottom layers being comprised of bone permeable material that when implanted would fuse to the vertebrae and form a permanent bond. The middle layer is a polymer with mechanical properties similar to natural spinal discs.

Abstract: A method for tissue augmentation in a mammal is provided having injecting a polymer at a tissue site in need of augmentation and having a tissue temperature, the polymer having repeating peptide monomeric units selected from the group consisting of nonapeptide, pentapeptide and tetrapeptide monomeric units, wherein the monomeric units form a series of &bgr;-turns separated by dynamic bridging segments suspended between the &bgr;-turns, wherein the polymer has an inverse temperature transition Tt less than the tissue temperature, and wherein the polymer is injected as a water solution at coacervate concentration in the substantial absence of additional water. A kit containing the injectable bioelastic polymer and a syringe is also provided.

Abstract: A load-sharing resorbable scaffold is used to help transplanted chondrocytes or other cells generate new cartilage in a damaged joint such as a knee, hip, or shoulder. These scaffolds use two distinct matrix materials. One is a relatively stiff matrix material, designed to withstand and resist a compressive articulating load placed on the joint during the convalescent period, shortly after surgery. Due to the requirement for relatively high stiffness, this material must be denser and have less pore space than other matrices, so it will not be able to support highly rapid cell proliferation and cartilage secretion. The second material comprises a more open and porous matrix, designed to promote maximal rapid generation of new cartilage. In one preferred geometric arrangement, the stiffer matrix material is used to provide an outer rim and one or more internal runners, all of which can distribute a compressive load between them.

Abstract: An ocular replacement system provides a ball implant having an outer spherical surface that is receptive to ocular tissue ingrowth, including an anterior surface positioned forwardly within the eye cavity to create a semi-spherical shape covered by the conjunctiva. A prosthesis includes an inner concave surface shaped to conform generally to the anterior surface and to the conjunctiva covering the anterior surface of the implant. One or more first magnets or magnetically attractive elements fitted to and flush with the anterior surface of the implant are correspondingly positioned relative to one or more second magnets fitted to the inner concave surface of the prosthesis. In one embodiment, the poles of the first magnets are arranged to magnetically align with opposite poles of the second magnets, thereby providing an attractive force which magnetically couples the prosthesis to the implant.

Abstract: A delivery system for implantation of a self-expanding stent in a vessel consists of an elongate flexible catheter for delivering a self-expanding stent to a predetermined location in a vessel. The stent surrounds the flexible catheter near its distal end and is held in a delivery configuration where the stent has a reduced radius along its entire axial length by a stent retaining and release means. The stent retaining and release means is either one or more slipping sleeves which either contain the stent themselves or form a waterproof chamber with the stent being contained by water soluble bands or swelling bands. The stent retaining and release means can also be a pair of sleeves connected to hydraulic pistons, or a pair of sleeves connected to push/pull wires.

Abstract: An intraocular lens assembly including a lens, a haptic, and a leverage arm connecting the lens to the haptic, wherein the leverage arm is adapted to apply a lever force on the lens acting generally along a chord inwards of a perimeter of the lens.

Abstract: An implantable appliance (1) comprises a front end wire ring (2), one or more intermediate wire rings (5) and a rear end wire ring (3) connected by a tubular cover (4). The wire rings (2), (3) and (5) are flexibly foldable. A front end portion (1a) of the appliance (1) is equally divided into four or an even number over four segments with dividing points (6a), (6b), (6c), (6d) between the segments, and a front hooking portion (8) for hauling the appliance (1) is formed at midpoints between the dividing points (6a), (6b), (6c), (6d) and the dividing points (6b), (6c), (6d), (6a). The invention includes a method in which the front end portion (1a) is collapsed into a wavy shape with every other dividing point (6a), (6c) forming forwardly directed peaks and other dividing points (6b), (6d) forming the bottoms of forwardly directed valleys, such that front hooking portions are located between adjacent peaks and valleys.

Abstract: Disclosed is a tubular endoluminal vascular prosthesis, useful in treating, for example, an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The prosthesis comprises a self expandable wire support structure surrounded by a flexible tubular membrane. A delivery catheter and methods are also disclosed.

Abstract: The invention concerns a device for treating presbyopia or other ocular disorders related to any eye accommodation defect. The device (20) includes a piece (22) shaped as a ring portion with an axis of revolution and first (22a) and second (22b) edges offset along radial directions and along the direction of said axis of revolution. The first edge (22a) is disposed to rest, over at least part of its length, on part of the eye internal wall and the second part (22b) is capable of being pressed against a median zone (18c) of zonules of the crystalline lens (18). In this way a displacement of the median zone of said zonules is obtained. This displacement enables them to cause the deformation of the crystalline lens (14) under the effects of stimulation applied to the zonules.

Abstract: A keyhole button used as a supplement of a keyhole portion formed on a cranium is constituted to have a brim portion having front and back surfaces, and a shaft portion integrally provided on the back surface of the brim portion. The front surface of the brim portion is convexed in a first direction, and concaved in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction.

Abstract: An implant for occluding a passage in a circulatory system is provided. The implant in one form includes a plurality of thin wire-like members each having a proximal and a distal end and a first holder to which the distal ends of the members are attached. The proximal ends of the members are attached to a second holder. The implant includes an expansible occluding body attached to the members at a point intermediate the first and second holders. A carrier rod is releasably attached to the first holder and upon which the second holder is slidably received. A driving implement is located on the carrier rod, the driving implement contacting the second holder and movable toward the first holder along the carrier rod.

Abstract: Osteoarticular allografts are transplanted by techniques which ensure substantial surface contour matching. Specifically, surgical techniques are provided whereby a plug from an osteochondral allograft may be transplanted to a cavity site which remains after a condylar defect is removed from a patient's condyle. In this regard, the present invention essentially includes placing an osteochondral allograft in substantially the same orientation as the patient condyle, and then removing the transplantable plug therefrom and forming the cavity site in the patient condyle while maintaining their relative same orientation. In this manner, the surface of the transplanted plug is matched to the contour of the excised osteochondral tissue.

Abstract: The invention relates to a joint endoprosthesis and a method for fixing the seat thereof. The endoprosthesis has a shaft that is anchored in the marrow cavity of a tubular bone, and an ultra source that is placed in or on the shaft and the radiation characteristics of which enable ultrasound waves to reach a gap between the spongiosa of the tubular bone and the surface of the external covering of the shaft. The associated method applies impinging ultrasound waves upon the gap.

Abstract: The hinge stent is a balloon-expandable or self-expandable intravascular endoprosthesis used for treatment of vascular injury. The hinge stent is formed of a single stent section or of multiple stent sections joined together. Each stent section has a node and strut structure extending throughout in order to uncouple expansion forces of the stent to hold a blood vessel outward from crush forces that resist the formation of an oval shape during a crush deformation. Each node includes a hinge which is joined via a transition region to a strut. The hinge can bend in the direction of a uniformly curved surface of the stent but not in the radial direction. The strut can bend in the radial direction but not in the uniformly curved surface of the stent. The widths, lengths, and radial dimensions of the hinges and struts provide a balloon-expandable hinge stent that is non-crushable. For a self-expandable stent the hinge and strut dimensions provide expansion forces that are controlled independently from crush forces.

Abstract: An arthroplasty joint assembly for medically and articulately interconnecting first and second opposed end regions of lengthwise adjacent first and second bones. The artificial joint assembly includes a first assembly including external threading extending lengthwise from a generally pointed end of the first assembly for anchoring the first assembly within a cavity of the first bone such that an opposite end of the first assembly extends toward the second bone. The artificial joint assembly also includes a second assembly having external threading extending lengthwise from a generally pointed end of the second assembly for anchoring the second assembly within a cavity in the second bone and such that an opposite end of the second assembly extends toward the first bone.

Abstract: A device for loading a self expanding stent into a deployment tool has an outer tube defining a space. The device has a constricting sheath with a stent delivery end and a stent receiving opening opposite thereto. The constricting sheath is open therethrough with the stent delivery end and the stent receiving opening aligned along an axis thereof. The stent delivery end is shaped and sized for slipping over the outer tube. The stent receiving opening is shaped and sized to receive a self expanding stent aligned along the axis and in its expanded state. A rest within the delivery end is located for seating the constricting sheath along the axis and in position over the outer tube. A funnel is positioned within the constricting sheath located between the stent delivery end and the stent receiving opening. The funnel is shaped for collapsing the self expanding stent before loading into the space of the outer tube.

Abstract: A stent contracting apparatus configured with retractable grippers to engage the struts of a self-expanding stent to hold the stent in a collapsed position and to release the stent within a body lumen. The grippers of the stent contracting apparatus are moveable between a retracted and deployed position by an actuating mechanism which includes at least one control wire that extends outside the body lumen. A post-dilatation expandable member allows a physician to adjust the positioning of the expanded stent within the lumen if necessary.

Abstract: An expandable stent for implantation in a body lumen, such as an artery, is disclosed. The stent consists of a plurality of radially expandable cylindrical elements generally aligned on a common longitudinal stent axis and interconnected by one or more interconnecting members placed so that the stent is flexible in the longitudinal direction. The strength of the stent at a center section or at either end can be varied by increasing the mass of the struts forming each cylindrical element in that center section or end section relative to the lower mass struts in the remaining sections of the stent. Increasing the mass of the struts can be accomplished by, for a given strut thickness, increasing the width of the strut, or increasing the length of a cylindrical element.