Patents Examined by Hieu Phan
  • Patent number: 6375679
    Abstract: The combination of a prosthetic valve and a sinus. The valve has a plurality of flexible leaflets for opening and closing the valve, each leaflet having an edge region attached to a frame of the valve and further having a free edge. The sinus has a plurality of lobes symmetrically disposed around the periphery of the sinus, and a conduit located downstream of said lobes in the direction of blood flow through the sinus. The sinus is such that the valve may be located therein with said attached edges of any one of the leaflets extending in coincidence with an upstream edge region of a respective lobe, wherein in axial section taken centrally through a lobe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: Advanced Medical Solutions Ltd.
    Inventors: Leat Martyn, Clark Colin, Wu Jin
  • Patent number: 6371981
    Abstract: A graft system is provided that includes either a support ring or a support sleeve that is used in providing transitional support to either an end or a side of a graft or a host vessel. The support ring is provided with a generally cylindrical wall and defining a passageway that is adapted for receiving an end of a vein graft or an end of a host vessel. The support ring has a first end and a second end, with the thickness of the wall being greater at the first end than at the second end. The support sleeve is provided with a first side edge, a second side edge, and an opening. The support sleeve surrounds a side opening of a graft or host vessel so that the opening of the support sleeve is aligned with the side opening of the graft or host vessel. The thickness of the support sleeve is greater at the opening than at the first and second side edges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2002
    Assignee: AV Healing LLC
    Inventors: Jun Yang, George Guo
  • Patent number: 6368347
    Abstract: A vascular graft comprised of a tubular polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) sheet. The ePTFE sheet has a substantially uniform coating of bioresorbable gel material on an outer surface. The coating minimizes bleeding through suture holes in the ePTFE sheet and an increase in longitudinal extensibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2002
    Assignee: Sulzer Vascutek Ltd.
    Inventors: Roshan Maini, Karen Kelso
  • Patent number: 6361564
    Abstract: A knee-joint prosthesis including a tibial insert (5) between a tibial plate (1) provided on its outer surface with means for fixing to a tibia, and a femoral part comprising a condyle provided with means for fixing to the femur, the tibia insert (5) being mounted on the tibial plate (1) and comprising at least two upper surfaces (7) complementary in shape with the outer surface of the condyles, a tenon (2, 3, 4) is fixed to the inner surface of the tibial plate (1) and projects upwards and comprises an oblong part (4) extending parallel to the inner surface of the tibial plate (1), and the tibial insert (5) has a cavity (9) in which the oblong part (4) engages with possibility of rotation and translation of the tenon (2) relative to the tibial insert (5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: Aesculap
    Inventors: Pascal Marceaux, Jean-François Biegun, Jean-Yves Jenny, Rolf Miehlke, Dominique Saragaglia
  • Patent number: 6361560
    Abstract: Prosthetic implants designed to be implanted in the cornea for modifying the cornea curvature and altering the corneal refractive power for correcting myopia, and myopia with astigmatism, such implants formed of a micro-porous hydrogel material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: Anamed, Inc.
    Inventor: Alok Nigam
  • Patent number: 6361566
    Abstract: There is disclosed a hip prosthesis to replace a damaged hip-joint. The hip prosthesis is intended to be disposed at one end thereof into a cup-shaped cavity of an acetabulum and at the other end thereof into a femur canal of a person suffering from a damaged hip-joint. The hip prosthesis comprises an acetabulum part having a cotyloid member to be tightly engaged into the acetabulum, an elongated neck part, and a femur part. The elongated neck part has an articulation head at one end thereon, the head being shaped to be articulately received in the acetabulum part, and a slidable connection at the other end thereof for engagement with the femur part. The femur part has a femur canal insertable portion formed with an arrangement to secure same in the femur canal by being embedded in regenerated bone marrow, and an engaging channel to receive the slidable connection of the elongated neck part and to securely connect the elongated neck part to the femur part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Inventor: Bashar Al-Hafez
  • Patent number: 6350284
    Abstract: This invention describes a rigid layered composite material including a bioabsorbable plate layer and a bioabsorbable web layer for guided bone tissue regeneration, particularly suited for use in the treatment of cranial bone defects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: Bionx Implants, Oy
    Inventors: Pertti Törmälä, Minna Kellomäki, Timo Waris
  • Patent number: 6344059
    Abstract: The invention relates to a replacement knee prosthesis having a femoral component (1) provided with lock pins for attachment to femoral condyls and a plastic tibial component (2) placed in a metal tray (3) fixed to the tibia by means of a pin or a screw. The replacement knee prosthesis is characterized in that the lateral surface of its femoral component (1) has a movement determined by their conical surfaces which is formed in accordance with its logarithmic spiral generatrix (4) while its medial surface corresponds to the conical spiral generatrix (5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2002
    Inventors: Gabor Krakovits, Zoltan Juharosi, Tamasne Bardosi
  • Patent number: 6342067
    Abstract: In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a stent for insertion into a vessel of a patient. The stent is a tubular member having front and back open ends and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween. The tubular member has a first smaller diameter for insertion into a patient and navigation through the vessels, and a second larger diameter for deployment into the target area of a vessel. The tubular member is made from a plurality of adjacent hoops extending between the front and back ends. The hoops include a plurality of longitudinal struts and a plurality of loops connecting adjacent struts. The stent further includes a plurality of bridges having loop to bridge connections which connect adjacent hoops to one another. The bridge to loop connection points are separated angularly with respect to the longitudinal axis. The bridges have one end attached to a loop, another end attached to a loop on an adjacent hoop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2002
    Assignee: Nitinol Development Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Mathis, Thomas Duerig
  • Patent number: 6334867
    Abstract: A tubular graft/stent includes a tubular sheath (10) having at intervals along its length a plurality of ring-like rigid members (11), which are attached to the sheath around their respective circumferences and are made of a shape memory material, so that when the members (11) change shape the sheath (10) adopts a new cross section in conformity with them along its whole length. The members may be discontinuous to allow the adoption of a contracted shape in the martensitic phase and an expanded shape in the austenitic phase. A graft may also have a side tube (14) which can be inverted so as to be housed within the sheath.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2002
    Assignee: Anson Medical Ltd
    Inventor: Anthony Walter Anson
  • Patent number: 6322592
    Abstract: The invention relates to a macro-porous composite that can be used as a bone reconstitution material. The composite is made up of a combination of synthetic aragonite and at least one medicinal substance such as notably, an antibiotic. The invention also relates to a method of producing a composite which includes producing a mixture includes grains of synthetic aragonite and at least one porogenic agent, compacting the mixture and heating the product obtained in such a way as to eliminate the porogenic agent. At least one medicinal substance is included before or after the step of eliminating of the porogenic agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2001
    Assignee: Universite de Rennes
    Inventors: Anita Lucas, Jean-Francois Michel, Jean-Francois Gaude, Claude Carel
  • Patent number: 6319285
    Abstract: A hip-joint socket of a hip-joint endoprosthesis is provided, in which the bearing shell of the socket that mounts the ball head of the shaft is made of a ceramic material. The bearing shell (2) of the hip-joint socket (1; 11), in the region of its surface (4) with which it is inserted into the hip bone, is covered with a coating (5; 15) that is made of a biocompatible metal or a biocompatible metal alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2001
    Assignee: Ceramtec AG Innovative Ceramic Engineering
    Inventors: Wilfried Von Chamier, Kartmut Kalberer, Hans-Georg Pfaff
  • Patent number: 6312456
    Abstract: A stent, in particular a coronary stent, includes a thin-walled, hollow-cylindrical base body of an X-ray transparent material, the surface area of which has an open-worded, net-shaped design owing to recesses. The stent has at least one X-ray opaque element or region, wherein the X-ray opaque element or the X-ray opaque region extends essentially in a linear direction over at least a portion of the circumference of the stent located at least one end region of the stent while the rest of the stent remains X-ray transparent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2001
    Assignee: Biotronik Mass-und Therapiegeraete GmbH & Co. Ingenieurbuero Berlin
    Inventors: Curt Kranz, Heinz Mueller
  • Patent number: 6312474
    Abstract: A non-crosslinked, decellularized and purified mammalian tissue (e.g., bovine pericardium) having particular use as an implantable resorbable material. The material is treated by alkylating its primary amine groups in a manner sufficient to reduce the antigenicity of the tissue, permitting the treated tissue to be used in vivo and without crosslinking, and in turn, permitting it to be resorbable. The material can be used in surgical repair of soft tissue deficiencies for a certain period of time while the implant itself is gradually remodeled or absorbed by the host. Also provided are a method of preparing such a material, as well as a method of using such a material for surgical repair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2001
    Assignee: Bio-Vascular, Inc.
    Inventors: Ralph T. Francis, Qing Hong Zhao, Amy Desmith, B. Nicholas Oray
  • Patent number: 6306169
    Abstract: A biomechanical implant is described which comprises at least two matrix components, the first matrix component being composed of collagen with a porous macrostructure with the ability to withstand tensile or shear forces, the second matrix component being a hydrated alginate gel which substantially fills the porous macrostructure of the first component and exerts a swelling pressure, the implant additionally comprising a population of cells comprising chondrocytes, fibrochondrocytes, fibroblasts or osteoblasts, or precursors thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2001
    Assignees: Abonetics Ltd., University College London
    Inventors: David Alan Lee, Daniel Lawrence Bader, Myra Deborah Stephens
  • Patent number: 6306454
    Abstract: Medical devices and methods of producing same are provided. The medical device comprising a body member and a coating on at least a portion of the body member comprising an insitu condensation product of a first electrophilically active, high molecular weight polyalkylene oxide and a second high molecular weight polyoxyalkylene derivative.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2001
    Assignee: Baxter International Inc.
    Inventors: Neng S. Ung-Chhun, Richard J. Johnson, Dean Laurin, Crystal M. Cunahan
  • Patent number: 6302911
    Abstract: An intraocular implant having a single piece having a central optical portion and at least two haptic portions, wherein the free end of each haptic portion is situated on a circle and is shaped to form a gutter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2001
    Assignee: Humanoptics AG
    Inventor: Khalil Hanna
  • Patent number: 6290721
    Abstract: A tubular prosthesis device for use within the body. The device includes, a metal filament material formed of metal outer member having an exposed outer surface and a core within the extended outer member formed of a different metal than the outer member. The core is secured within and substantially enclosed by the outer member. The device can be reduced to a small size for introduction into the body lumen and expandable to a sufficiently large size to engage the wall of the body lumen. Stents formed of composite wires are shown.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2001
    Assignee: Boston Scientific Corporation
    Inventor: Kevin R. Heath
  • Patent number: 6287331
    Abstract: A tubular prosthesis device for use within the body. The device includes, a metal filament material formed of metal outer member having an exposed outer surface and a core within the extended outer member formed of a different metal than the outer member. The core is secured within and substantially enclosed by the outer member. The device can be reduced to a small size for introduction into the body lumen and expandable to a sufficiently large size to engage the wall of the body lumen. Stents formed of composite wires are shown.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2001
    Assignee: Boston Scientific Corporation
    Inventor: Kevin R. Heath
  • Patent number: 6283992
    Abstract: The stent comprises a flexible self-expandable braided tubular wall having a proximal segment having an outer diameter, and a distal segment having an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the proximal segment. An intermediate segment is formed between proximal and distal segments, which forms a truncated cone of which the base is forming the proximal end of the intermediate segment and of which the top is forming the distal end of the intermediate segment. A covering layer is arranged within the tubular wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2001
    Assignee: Schneider (Europe) GmbH
    Inventors: Susanne Hankh, Marc Gianotti, Eugen Hofmann