Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

Other

Jeffrey S Cohen

Louis A Campbell

Ralph Schneider

John F Migliazza

Jeffrey S Dove

Gregory A Wright

Bin Tian

Ivan Jankovic

James M Young

Methods for the conditioning of bioprosthetic material employ bovine pericardial membrane. A laser directed at the fibrous surface of the membrane and moved relative thereto reduces the thickness of the membrane to a specific uniform thickness and smoothes the surface. The wavelength, power and pulse rate of the laser are selected which will smooth the fibrous surface as well as ablate the surface to the appropriate thickness. Alternatively, a dermatome is used to remove a layer of material from the fibrous surface of the membrane. Thinning may also employ compression. Stepwise compression with cross-linking to stabilize the membrane is used to avoid damaging the membrane through inelastic compression. Rather, the membrane is bound in the elastic compressed state through addition cross-linking. The foregoing several thinning techniques may be employed together to achieve strong thin membranes.

Methods of conditioning sheet bioprosthetic tissue

Methods for the conditioning of bioprosthetic material employ bovine pericardial membrane. A laser directed at the fibrous surface of the membrane and moved relative thereto reduces the thickness of the membrane to a specific uniform thickness and smoothes the surface. The wavelength, power and pulse rate of the laser are selected which will smooth the fibrous surface as well as ablate the surface to the appropriate thickness. Alternatively, a dermatome is used to remove a layer of material from the fibrous surface of the membrane. Thinning may also employ compression. Stepwise compression with cross-linking to stabilize the membrane is used to avoid damaging the membrane through inelastic compression. Rather, the membrane is bound in the elastic compressed state through addition cross-linking. The foregoing several thinning techniques may be employed together to achieve strong thin membranes. The finally thinned membrane may then be treated by capping of calcification nucleation sites and borohydride reduction. The leaflets may be formed to have more than one region of uniform thickness, such as a thicker peripheral sewing region.

A method of playing a blackjack game permits a player to place an initial wager on either the player's hand or on the dealer's hand. If placed on the player's hand, play continues under traditional blackjack rules. If the initial wager is placed on the dealer's hand, play of the player's hand is substantially in accordance with the house rules for play of the dealer's hand. If both the player's hand and the dealer's hand bust when the bet is on the dealer's hand, a portion of the initial player bet is forfeited to maintain a house advantage.

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Irvine, CA, United States of America

Jeffrey S Cohen