Abstract: A bed including a frame, a deck coupled to the frame and a communication network located on the bed has at least two modules connected to the network, at least one of those modules being able to provide an alarm message to the bed communication network.

Abstract: A merely exemplary external pressure sensing system comprises a connecting member and a pressure sensor. The connecting member is operable to connect to a syringe barrel and a needle. The connecting member comprises a conduit permitting communication of fluid from the syringe barrel to the needle when the connecting member is connected to the syringe barrel and the needle. The pressure sensor is in communication with the conduit. The pressure sensor is configured to sense pressure of fluid within the connecting member. The connecting member is configured to permit the pressure sensor to sense the pressure of the fluid while the fluid is communicated from the barrel to the needle. The pressure sensor is configured to provide a visual indication of sensed pressure. The visual indication may be provided by a variety of components, including but not limited to a diaphragm, a disc, a needle, or a slider.

Abstract: An apparatus is operable to communicate fluid. An exemplary apparatus comprises a housing and a fluid reservoir within the housing. An actuator is operationally engaged with the fluid reservoir. The actuator is operable to effect communication of fluid from or into the fluid reservoir. A sensor is in fluid communication with the fluid reservoir. The sensor is operable to sense a physical parameter of fluid that is in communication with the fluid reservoir as the fluid is communicated from or into the fluid reservoir. An indicator is in communication with the sensor. The indicator is operable to display the physical parameter sensed by the sensor. The apparatus may be used to inject fluid into or withdraw fluid from an implanted gastric band system or for a variety of other uses. Fluid pressure may be adjusted and sensed, and resulting data may be displayed, by a single, integrated instrument.

Abstract: A system is operable to detect the orientation of an implant component. The system comprises an implantable component, an external component, and a logic component. The implantable component comprises a first coil operable to transmit a first signal having a phase. The external component comprises a second coil operable to transmit a second signal having a phase. The logic component is operable to compare the phase of the first signal with the phase of the second signal. The logic component is further configured to determine an orientation of the first coil relative to the second coil based on a comparison of the phase of the first signal with the phase of the second signal. The system may be used to determine the orientation of an injection port in an implanted gastric band system. The system may alternatively be used in a variety of other types of systems.

Abstract: A bed having a frame, a deck, and a communication network and at least one module. The at least one module includes a charting module.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises an implantable mechanically adjustable band configured to form a restriction in a patient. The band defines an inner diameter. The mechanical adjustability of the band is configured to permit the inner diameter defined by the band to be selectively varied. The apparatus further comprises an adjustment mechanism in communication with the band. The adjustment mechanism is operable to provide the mechanical adjustability of the band. The apparatus further comprises a sensor in communication with one or both of the mechanically adjustable band or the adjustment mechanism. The sensor is configured to sense a physical parameter associated with operation of the band. The physical parameter sensed by the sensor varies with the inner diameter defined by the band. The band may be used as a gastric band, among other potential uses.

Abstract: A gastric band includes a belt and a balloon secured to the belt. The balloon and belt are shaped and dimensioned to circumscribe the stomach at a predetermined location. The balloon includes a longitudinally extending body having a first end and a second end, the first end and the second end respectively including mating profiles which align to create generally continuous surfaces along an outer surface of the gastric band and an inner surface of the gastric band as the outer surface and the inner surface transition between the first and second ends of the balloon.

Abstract: An implantable artificial sphincter system provides long-term adjustment via transcutaneous energy transfer (TET), minimizing invasive adjustment through adding or removing fluid via a syringe. An infuser device provides bi-directional fluid transfer via a flexible conduit to a sphincter band, such as a gastric band. Materials are nonferrous and nonmagnetic so as to be magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) safe, being substantially immune to strong magnetic fields and not introducing an electromagnetic interference/compatibility (EMIC) hazard.

Abstract: An external pressure sensing system may include an attachment for a syringe. The attachment may comprise a connector positioned between the barrel and the needle of the syringe. A pressure sensor may be in fluid communication with the connector, such that the pressure sensor may sense the pressure of fluid within the connector as the syringe is used to add fluid to or withdraw fluid from an injection port. Where an injection port is a component of an adjustable fluid-based gastric band system, pressure data obtained with the pressure sensor may be indicative of the pressure of fluid within the gastric band. The pressure sensor may communicate pressure data to a display device. A user may adjust the pressure of fluid within the gastric band using the syringe while viewing the display device for pressure-related readings.

Abstract: An implantable restriction device is configured to provide a restriction in a patient as a function of the pressure of fluid. The implantable restriction device includes one or more pressure sensors configured to sense pressure of the fluid within the implantable restriction device. Pressure data obtained by the one or more pressure sensors may be communicated to a device located external to the patient, which may process the pressure data, and may further provide a display to a user including information relating to the processed pressure data. Where the implantable restriction device comprises an adjustable gastric band, the one or more pressure sensors may be located in any number of the following locations: an injection port, an interface between the injection port and a catheter, in a catheter, in-line with a catheter, adjacent to a catheter, in a gastric band, in a gastric band buckle, or elsewhere.

Abstract: A sense head comprises a plurality of coils and a needle window. The sense head is operable to receive RF signals communicated from a needle target such as an injection port located within a patient. A user interface is configured to visually display an indication to a user relating to the positioning and orientation of the sense head relative to the needle target. The positioning and orientation may be determined based on RF signals received by the coils in the sense head. With the sense head positioned based on information provided through the visual display, the user may insert a needle through the needle window to reach the needle target. The sense head may also receive communications relating to the pressure of fluid in an implanted device. The user interface may further display information relating to the fluid pressure in the implanted device.

Abstract: An implantable restriction device is configured to provide a restriction in a patient as a function of the pressure of fluid. The implantable restriction device includes one or more pressure sensors configured to sense pressure of the fluid within the implantable restriction device. Pressure data obtained by the one or more pressure sensors may be communicated to a device located external to the patient, such as a data logger, using telemetry coils or other communicators. The data logger may store the pressure data, and may communicate the pressure data to a remote location via a network such as the Internet. A docking station may be provided to couple the data logger to a network and/or to recharge a cell in the data logger.

Abstract: A bed having a frame, a deck, and a siderail. The deck having a head seat and foot sections.

Abstract: An actuator having a variable internal volume is mechanically coupled to an adjustable implantable band so as to effect changes in the effective internal perimeter of the band. The actuator may be directly connected to the band, or be connected through a cable. Configurations of the actuator include a series of folds and ridges and bellows. A plurality of actuators may be used in combination with a single band. A clutch mechanism may be included to hold the band in place when not acted upon by the actuators. One end of the actuator may be connected directly to a bidirectional flow device.

Abstract: A bed including a frame, a deck, a siderail, a communication network and a graphic caregiver interface module. The graphic caregiver interface module includes an input device, a control circuit, a memory, and a display.

Abstract: A facsimile machine that is capable of receiving, transmitting and storing both document images and data transfers, identifying the appropriate device the data transfer is intended for, and providing the data transfer to the appropriate device is disclosed. A facsimile machine is provided with one or more ports for coupling with other office equipment, such as, for example, postage meters, postage scales, personal computers, etc. Data transfers from a service center or the like are received by the facsimile machine and identified as to which device is the intended recipient. The facsimile machine can then send the data transfer to the intended device, or store the data transfer for sending to the intended device at a later time. Accordingly, only a single analog telephone line is required for all of the devices coupled to the facsimile machine.

Abstract: An implantable medical device system advantageously utilizes low frequency (e.g., about 1-100 kHz) transcutaneous energy transfer (TET) for supplying power from an external control module to an implantable medical device, avoiding power dissipation through eddy currents in a metallic case of an implant and/or in human tissue, thereby enabling smaller implants using a metallic case such as titanium and/or allowing TET signals of greater strength thereby allowing placement more deeply within a patient without excessive power transfer inefficiencies.

Abstract: An implantable medical device advantageously utilizes low frequency (e.g., 100 kHz or below) for telemetry communication with an external control module avoiding power dissipation through eddy currents in a metallic case of an implant and/or in human tissue, thereby enabling smaller implants using a metallic case such as titanium and/or allow telemetry signals of greater strength for implantation to a greater depth.

Abstract: Adjustable gastric band implants contain a hollow elastomeric balloon with fixed end points encircling a patient's stomach just inferior to the esophago-gastric junction. These balloons can expand and contract through the introduction of saline solution into the balloon. In current bands, this saline solution must be injected into a subcutaneous port with a needle to reach the port located below the skin surface. The port communicates hydraulically with the band via a catheter. As an alternative to using a percutaneously accessed injection port, a system for regulating the flow of saline that is totally implanted may rely upon bi-directionally pumping fluid from an implant device. This system instead transfers AC magnetic flux energy from an external primary coil to a secondary coil that powers the pump in the implanted reservoir. A magnetically permeable rod centered within the primary coil increases power coupled to the secondary coil.

Abstract: An implantable artificial sphincter system provides long-term adjustment via transcutaneous energy transfer (TET), minimizing invasive adjustment through adding or removing fluid via a syringe. An infuser device provides bi-directional fluid transfer via a flexible conduit to a sphincter band, such as a gastric band, by a combination of thermodynamic actuation and a piezo-electrically disengaged drum brake assembly that thereby achieves a desirable small volume device. A propellant within a propellant cavity surrounds a metal bellows accumulator biased at body temperature to either expand or collapse the bellows accumulator with the opposite direction of movement effected by a thermal element that heats in combination with a negatively-biased propellant or cools in combination with a positively-biased propellant.