Atrion Medical Products, Inc.

Ryder International Corporation

Textron Corporation

The University of Alabama

Ryder International Corporation and Research Foundation

Larry Lee Young

Rowland W Kanner

Stephen P Lisak

Richard Rabenau

Michael Parcus

Sally B Whitley

A needle counter device which utilizes an adhesive disposed in one or more, preferably V-shaped, troughs. The adhesive provides instant, strong grip upon contact, but also provides very low resistance to needle penetration (i.e., it is easy to stick a needle in the adhesive, but difficult to pull the needle out). The device includes a base and a lid, and opens and closes much like a book. Once the device is closed, the device tends to remain closed unless intentionally opened. A thin layer of adhesive may be provided on the inside of the lid, to retain used surgical blades, and a piece of resilient foam may also be provided for temporarily 'parking' a suture needle. The sides of each trough are lined with structure which serves to prevent an accidentally laid surgical instrument from unintentionally contacting the adhesive. Numerical indices provide a quick visual, counting assist. Double sticky tape, covered with a protective peel away release sheet, can be provided on the outside surface of the lid and/or the base, for adhering the device to work surfaces.

Needle counter device including troughs of cohesive material

A frangible hose connector that has a knit line at the intended point of fracture, as opposed to a circumferential groove or notch. The knit line provides a break zone which has a lower tensile strength than that of the parent material, thereby providing that the connector is relatively easy to fracture. The connector also includes finger grips which makes breaking the connector easier. The finger grips provide that the connector is configured to be fractured via a twisting or torsion force, as opposed to a bending force. As such, the connector tends to break in a manner wherein fluid does not fling or spray. The connector is formed of plastic, and the knit line is created during the plastic injection molded process, wherein two mold fronts are &ldquo;squared-up&rdquo; and meet in the mold cavity to form the knit line.

Frangible hose connector

A multiple capacity surgical needle immobilization safety device is provided for use in disposal of needles during medical treatment. The device can be included in a procedure kit or trays where several needles and cannulas, up to five per tray, are provided as a set to be used sequentially in performing a specific procedure such as spinal block or other anesthesia.

Surgical needle immobilization device

A medical punch having a plurality of cutting edges. The fact that the medical punch has a plurality of cutting edges provides, for example, that the medical punch can be used to achieve a clean and accurate cut, and provides that an excessive amount of hand pressure need not be employed to effect the cut.

Medical punch with high shear angle cutting edges

An actuating mechanism and method for sequentially translating a sheath member relative to an elongate member such as a balloon catheter movably inserted through the sheath includes a coupling structure constructed to enable selectively coupling or uncoupling of a drive member to the sheath member in order to drive translation of the coupled sheath member in one or more translation increments and to enable uncoupling of the drive member following each of said increments of retraction. In a particularly beneficial method of sheath retraction from a portion of an angioplasty balloon catheter on which a stent is mounted, the method includes coupling a drive structure to the sheath and driving translation of the coupled sheath relative to the catheter to expose the stent-mounted portion of the catheter, and then repeating the translational drive of the coupled sheath to further translate the sheath and expose a further incremental portion of the catheter, in order to produce sequential one-way movement of the sheath in controlled increments to attain exposure of the balloon catheter and the stent mounted thereon without disturbing its position.

Sheath retractor mechanism and method

Disclosed is a novel aortic punch having a cutter on the end of a hollow body member. The hollow body member is slidable along a non-rotating shaft. On the end of the shaft is an anvil, and helical drive structure is provided between the hollow body member and the shaft or another non-rotating element adjacent the hollow body member. The helical drive structure comprises a flange receivable in a slot such that when a thumb button is pushed into a finger grip, the hollow body slides along, and rotates relative to, the shaft. This movement of the hollow body causes the cutter on the end of the hollow body to rotate relative to the anvil located on the end of the shaft as the cutter slides past the anvil. This rotation of the cutter provides that the aortic punch can be used to achieve a clean and accurate cut to the wall of an aorta during heart surgery.

Rotating aortic punch

A novel fluid infusion system utilizing a fluid pump device and a syringe is used in an intravenous or infusion application of a liquid product, such as a medication, to a patient. The pump device includes a housing that has a compartment for reception of at least a portion of the plunger of the syringe. A drive component is disposed in the compartment and is relatively movable with respect to the housing for engaging and producing movement of the plunger. A fluid medium is contained within the housing and a relatively movable piston is in operative communication with the fluid medium and a biasing structure is provided for biasing the piston in a first direction to impart a force on the fluid medium. A metering orifice is in communication with the fluid medium and through which the medium can pass upon movement of the piston in the first direction to restrict and control the flow of the medium. Valve structure for the fluid medium permits the rapid return movement of the piston in a second direction opposite the first direction. The piston is operatively associated with the drive component, such that the movement of the piston in the first direction is transferred to the drive component with the metering orifice in effect controlling the rate of movement of the piston and the drive component and correspondingly the movement of the plunger thereby controlling the rate of expulsion of the liquid product from the syringe.

Drug infusion system

A collector unit for collecting tissue or bone from a dental patient during a dental implant procedure generally includes a cover member, a filter support member, a filter medium and a gasket member. The support member is mountable within the cover member with the gasket member positioned therebetween to form the unit. A passage is provided through the unit to allow the passage of fluid material through the unit. The support member has a pair of spaced-apart, opposed filter support arms for removably supporting a substantially flat section of filter medium so that the filter medium overlies the inlet passage such that fluid material passing through the unit must pass through the filter medium which will filter out any bone or tissue specimens. The filter medium is removable from the supporting structure so that it can be positioned in a flat-orientation to facilitate the removal of bone or tissue specimens therefrom. Once removed, the filter medium cannot be reattached to the supporting structure. A pair of latch arms releasably secure the cover member and the support member together. The gasket member provides an integral one-way valve which normally blocks the inlet passage and can be moved out of association with the inlet passage to provide a path for the flow of fluid material through the unit.

Autogenous bone specimen collector

An infant supporting and positioning system for retaining and supporting an infant in a selected position. The supporting and positioning system includes a generally horizontally oriented base which has a primary surface in which is formed a plurality of bores. The system includes a plurality of infant positioning modules each of which have a body portion and at least one post projecting from the body portion. The posts are sized and dimensioned for cooperative engagement with a corresponding one of the plurality of the bores in the base. The posts interfit with the bores with sufficient interference to maintain the modules in the selected position relative to the base. The interference between the posts and bores allow for removal of a post from a bore to change the position of the corresponding module as necessary to configure the system to achieve desired infant support and positioning. The infant support and positioning system is generally covered with a vapor barrier and padded layer to provide additional protection and comfort.

Infant positioning device

A surgical staple extractor which has a gripping portion and a pair spaced-apart jaws and an anvil associated with the gripping portion. Structures are provided with the gripping portion for moving the anvil and the jaws in a scissor action to transfer forces from the anvil and jaws to a staple retained therebetween in order to mechanically deform or reform the staple for extraction from a patient. Cams are positioned between the jaws and the anvil for positively camming or displacing the jaws outwardly when the anvil jaws and jaws are operated. Actuation of the gripping portion results in moving the anvil and jaws with the cams interacting between the anvil and jaws for positively displacing the jaws outwardly in relation to the anvil for promoting controlled deformation of the staple in a removal path approximating the entry path thereby disengaging the staple from the patient.

Surgical staple remover

A headlamp adjuster mechanism, constructed according to the teachings of the present invention, for use with a headlamp for controlling movement thereof comprises a housing. Gear means is disposed within the housing, and an adjusting member is connected to the gear means for movement in response to rotation of the gear means. The gear means is operatively connected to the headlamp for attaining controlled positioning thereof and for providing prevailing torque for the mechanism to prevent inadvertent movement thereof. The housing comprises a main body portion and a cap for slidable engagement with the main body portion. The body and the cap have interengagable locking means for providing a snap-type interference fit therebetween to maintain the housing components in assembly.

Headlamp adjuster mechanism with slide-on cap/snap fit

A gasket retaining cap member, and method of forming same, comprising an integral cap member having a downwardly extending annular flange forming an exterior cap wall and a downwardly extending annular retention wall spaced radially inward of the cap wall thereby forming a ring-shaped well therebetween into which a gasket member is placed and thereafter held securely in position by deformation of the retention wall. The method of forming the gasket retaining cap member comprises positioning the cap member, with the gasket placed inside, within a heat staking press which operates to stake deformation into the upper surface of the retention wall thereby causing the retention wall to partially overlie the gasket member and hold it securely in place.

Growing community of inventors

Arab, AL, United States of America

Larry Lee Young