Abstract: An air extractor assembly for an automotive vehicle includes a diaphragm seat attached to a panel of the vehicle's interior, a diaphragm movable between a closed position and an open position with respect to the diaphragm seat, and a position controller that regulates movement of the diaphragm. The position controller may be any one of a variety of linear movers and may be selected from the group consisting of a solenoid, a motor, a vacuum, and a plunger. The diaphragm includes a resilient member so that when the diaphragm is in its closed position, a tight seal is formed between the diaphragm seat and the diaphragm. The position controller is by any one of a variety of several regulating mechanisms operating alone or in combination. The regulating mechanism may include but is not limited to the vehicle HVAC system, an oxygen sensor, door latches, and a humidity sensor.

Abstract: A weatherstrip cinch clip for an automobile including a substantially vertically aligned first wall, a substantially vertically aligned second wall extending substantially perpendicularly to the first wall, and a substantially horizontally aligned prong extending away from the second wall in a direction substantially parallel to the first wall, wherein the prong is configured to extend substantially within a prong receiving aperture.

Abstract: An air extractor assembly for an automotive vehicle includes a diaphragm seat attached to a panel of the vehicle's interior, a diaphragm movable between a closed position and an open position with respect to the diaphragm seat, and a position controller that regulates movement of the diaphragm. The position controller may be any one of a variety of linear movers and may be selected from the group consisting of a solenoid, a motor, a vacuum, and a plunger. The diaphragm includes a resilient member so that when the diaphragm is in its closed position a tight seal is formed between the diaphragm seat and the diaphragm. The position controller is by any one of a variety of several regulating mechanisms operating alone or in combination. The regulating mechanism include but are not limited to the vehicle HVAC system, an oxygen sensor, door latches, and a humidity sensor.

Abstract: A weatherstrip cinch clip for an automobile including a substantially vertically aligned first wall, a substantially vertically aligned second wall extending substantially perpendicularly to the first wall, and a substantially horizontally aligned prong extending away from the second wall in a direction substantially parallel to the first wall, wherein the prong is configured to extend substantially within a prong receiving aperture.

Abstract: The present invention is an improved separating device for providing the malabsorptive component of a minimally invasive weight reduction system. This device may be a sleeve, liner, or tubular sheath that alters absorption of compositions through walls of hollow organs (stomach, intestines). The improvement involves better long-term retention through the ability of the device to engage with the interserosal fibrotic tissue formed in an intussusception. The separating device may be a distal extension of a retaining member that is directly engaged with and retained by intussuscepted tissue. Intussusception shrinks a hollow organ to provide a volume reducing restrictive component of a weight reduction system. Securing the separating device to an intussusception avoids retention problems of reference art devices as interserosal fibrosis helps secure the device. Also provided are an apparatus for retaining the device, a device and method for delivering the separating device, and a method for removing it.

Abstract: Implantable devices and methods for the repair of a defective cardiac valve are provided. The implantable devices include an annuloplasty ring and a restraining and/or a remodeling structure or mechanism. The annuloplasty ring functions to reestablish the normal size and shape of the annulus bringing the leaflet in proximity to each other. A device having a remodeling structure further facilitates remodeling of the valve but allows the use of a flexible ring. The restraining structure functions to restrain the abnormal motion of at least a portion of the valve being repaired. The restraining and remodeling structures may include at least one strut across the interior of the circumference of the ring.

Abstract: The present invention is an improved separating device for providing the malabsorptive component of a minimally invasive weight reduction system. This device may be a sleeve, liner, or tubular sheath that alters absorption of compositions through walls of hollow organs (stomach, intestines). The improvement involves better long-term retention through the ability of the device to engage with the interserosal fibrotic tissue formed in an intussusception. The separating device may be a distal extension of a retaining member that is directly engaged with and retained by intussuscepted tissue. Intussusception shrinks a hollow organ to provide a volume reducing restrictive component of a weight reduction system. Securing the separating device to an intussusception avoids retention problems of reference art devices as interserosal fibrosis helps secure the device. Also provided are an apparatus for retaining the device, a device and method for delivering the separating device, and a method for removing it.

Abstract: Systems and methods provide greater control over the placement of cement and other flowable liquids into bone.

Abstract: Prosthetic intervertebral discs and methods for using the same are described. The subject prosthetic discs include upper and lower endplates separated by a compressible core member. The prosthetic discs described herein include one-piece, two-piece, three-piece, and four-piece structures. The subject prosthetic discs exhibit stiffness in the vertical direction, torsional stiffness, bending stiffness in the sagittal plane, and bending stiffness in the front plane, where the degree of these features can be controlled independently by adjusting the components of the discs. The interface mechanism between the endplates and the core members of several embodiments of the described prosthetic discs enables a very easy surgical operation for implantation.

Abstract: A cannula establishes a subcutaneous path into bone. A tamping instrument can be manipulated independent of the cannula to enable insertion of the tamping instrument into the cannula, advancement of the tamping terminus in the cannula to urge material residing in the cannula into bone, and withdrawal of the tamping terminus from the cannula. The tamping instrument includes at least one marking to visually gauge the advancement of a terminus of the tamping instrument relative to a distal end of the cannula.

Abstract: A cannula is sized and configured to establish an access path through soft tissue to bone having a cancellous bone volume. A bone treatment tool is sized and configured to be introduced through the cannula into the cancellous bone volume. The bone treatment tool carries an operative structure that is capable of being enlarged in situ to contact a region of the cancellous bone volume. A nozzle is sized and configured to be introduced through the cannula into the cancellous bone volume. The nozzle includes a connector element that releasably couples to a dispenser of filling material to deliver filling material into the region of cancellous bone contacted by the operative structure.

Abstract: A cannula establishes a subcutaneous path into bone. A tamping instrument having a tamping terminus is sized and configured for manipulation independent of the cannula to enable insertion of the tamping instrument into the cannula, advancement of the tamping terminus in the cannula to urge material residing in the cannula into bone, and withdrawal of the tamping terminus from the cannula.

Abstract: A cannula establishes a subcutaneous path into bone. The cannula includes at least one radiopaque marker. A tamping instrument having a tamping terminus is sized and configured for manipulation independent of the cannula to enable insertion of the tamping instrument into the cannula, advancement of the tamping terminus in the cannula to urge material residing in the cannula into bone, and withdrawal of the tamping terminus from the cannula.

Abstract: A cannula establishes a subcutaneous path into bone. The cannula includes at least one predetermined marking. A tamping instrument is advanced through the cannula to deliver material into the bone by grasping an enlarged handle portion formed on the tamping instrument. The advancement is visually gauged by observing at least one predetermined marking on the tamping instrument to determine a position of a terminus of the tamping instrument relative to a distal end of the cannula.

Abstract: A filler instrument comprises a first chamber section having a first cross sectional area and a second chamber section having a second cross sectional area less than the first cross sectional area. The second chamber section communicates with the first chamber section. The first chamber section includes an inlet for receiving a material into the filler instrument, and the second chamber section includes an outlet for discharging the material from the filler instrument. A first plunger is sized to pass through the first chamber section and not the second chamber section. A second plunger is sized to pass through an interior bore of the first plunger and into the second chamber section. In use, the first plunger displaces material residing in the first chamber section through the second chamber section toward the outlet, and the second plunger displaces material residing in the second chamber section through the outlet.

Abstract: Devices, systems and methods employ magnetic force to resist tissue collapse in targeted pharyngeal structures and individual anatomic components within the pharyngeal conduit during sleep.

Abstract: Devices, systems and methods employ magnetic force to resist tissue collapse in targeted pharyngeal structures and individual anatomic components within the pharyngeal conduit during sleep.

Abstract: Devices, systems and methods employ magnetic force to resist tissue collapse in targeted pharyngeal structures and individual anatomic components within the pharyngeal conduit during sleep.

Abstract: Devices, systems and methods employ magnetic force to resist tissue collapse in targeted pharyngeal structures and individual anatomic components within the pharyngeal conduit during sleep.

Abstract: Prosthetic intervertebral discs and methods for using the same are described. The subject prosthetic discs include upper and lower endplates separated by a compressible core member. The subject prosthetic discs exhibit stiffness in the vertical direction, torsional stiffness, bending stiffness in the saggital plane, and bending stiffness in the front plane, where the degree of these features can be controlled independently by adjusting the components of the discs. The subject prosthetic discs have shapes, sizes, and other features that make them particularly suitable for deployment using minimally invasive surgical procedures.