Abstract: An embolic protection and filtration device (EFD) that is deployable within the aortic arch of a patient to prevent emboli from entering the coronary arteries. The device includes a collapsible tubular chassis having enlarged opposing end portions and a midsection of smaller radial dimension. A filtration membrane is disposed at least on upstream and midsection portions of the chassis and is configured to filter and shunt large emboli down the descending aorta and away from the coronary arteries. A retrieval device is provided for retrieving the EFD from within the patient. The retrieval device automatically compensates for elongation of the EFD as the EFD is radially contracted such that the EFD is not moved or drug along the aorta as it is collapsed and retracted into a retrieval catheter.

Abstract: An embolic protection and filtration device (EFD) that is deployable within the aortic arch of a patient to prevent emboli from entering the coronary arteries. The device includes a collapsible tubular chassis having enlarged opposing end portions and a midsection of smaller radial dimension. A filtration membrane is disposed at least on upstream and midsection portions of the chassis and is configured to filter and shunt large emboli down the descending aorta and away from the coronary arteries. A retrieval device is provided for retrieving the EFD from within the patient. The retrieval device automatically compensates for elongation of the EFD as the EFD is radially contracted such that the EFD is not moved or drug along the aorta as it is collapsed and retracted into a retrieval catheter.

Abstract: The present invention provides a new and improved positioning device for stabilizing a subject on an operation table without a clinician's manual fitting. The inventive positioning device comprises a mattress/pad with a shell filled with a substance and a vacuum outlet on the sidewall of the shell. The invention also provides a warming device for preventing hypothermia of a subject on an operation table. The inventive warming device comprises a single cavity or an array of closed cuboid cavities contained in a shell and filled with a phase change material (PCM) in a form of liquid, and a triggering means for activating nucleation of the phase change material, which leads to an exothermic crystallization of the material to start the heat emission. The invention further provides a combination device that performs positioning and warming functions simultaneously.

Abstract: A collapsible blood filtering aortic arch bridge comprising a dumbbell shaped chassis having a tubular waist, a first conical end, and a second conical end such that only a periphery of the first and second ends contact the intima of an aortic arch when the bridge is disposed and expanded within the aortic arch of a patient. The waist is flexible so that the bridge can bend to comply with the curvature of the aortic arch. The bridge additionally comprises a blood filtering sleeve disposed over an interior or an exterior of the chassis for filtering blood flowing through the bridge into aortic arch vessels of the patient when the bridge is disposed within the aortic arch. Furthermore, the bridge comprises a retrieval sleeve disposed over the exterior of the chassis for collapsing the bridge to a cylindrical form for retrieval of the bridge from the aortic arch.