Ethicon, Gmbh

US Genomics, Inc.

Other

Biosense Webster, Inc.

Pressure Profile Systems Corporation

Pathogenetix, Inc.

Parris S Wellman

Kevin Shaun Weadock

Eugene Y Chan

Rajesh Pendekanti

Lance C Gleich

Simon Cohn

Daniel Gordon

Shailendra Kumar Parihar

Timothy G Dietz

Thomas Swyst

Thomas P Ryan

John Lapetina

Robert Nering

John Paul Devlin

Howard A Stone

Jae S Son

William C McJames

Robert Howe

Jia Hua Xiao

James Pelletier

John Young

Peter Douglas

T Anh Le

Raghuveer Basude

Robert S Casar

Martin Weisberg

Philip Prentice

Earl Adamy

A device for attaching, relocating or reinforcing tissue includes a first tissue anchoring portion having a support plate and a plurality of barbs extending from the support plate for engaging tissue at a first location, a second tissue anchoring portion having a support plate and a plurality of barbs extending from the support plate for engaging tissue at a second location which is different from the first location, and a connection element, such as a suture or a mesh structure, interposed between and interconnecting the first tissue anchoring portion and the second tissue anchoring portion. The support plate of at least one of the first tissue anchoring portion and the second tissue anchoring portion may have longitudinally axially formed therethrough a bore for receiving the connecting element so that the surgeon may pull on the end of the connecting element to adjust the distance between the first tissue anchoring portion and the second tissue anchoring portion.

Device for attaching, relocating and reinforcing tissue and methods of using same

The present invention provides structures and methods that allow polymers of any length, including nucleic acids containing entire genomes, to be stretched into a long, linear conformation for further analysis. The present invention also provides structures and methods for selecting and stretching polymers based on their lengths. Polymers are loaded into a device and run through the structures. Stretching is achieved by, e.g., applying shear forces as the polymer passes through the structures, placing obstacles in the path of the polymer, or a combination thereof. Since multiple molecules may be stretched in succession, extremely high throughput screening, e.g., screening of more than one molecule per second, is achieved.

Methods and apparatuses for stretching polymers

Ablation systems and methods for treating atrial fibrillation utilizing RF energy are provided. The system generally includes a first conductive member having a shape which defines a desired lesion pattern or a portion of a desired lesion pattern, and a second conductive member effective to transmit ablative radiation to the first conductive member. The first conductive member is adapted to be positioned on a first tissue surface, and the second conductive member is adapted to be positioned on a second, opposed tissue surface. In use, ablative radiation is transmitted from the second conductive member through the tissue to the first conductive member to form a lesion having the desired lesion pattern.

Surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation using radiofrequency technology

The present invention provides a mechanism by which the physical properties of diseased blood vessel walls can be manipulated to achieve an effective vessel lumen diameter for a prolonged period of time. The methods and devices of the present invention selectively isolate and treat the medial or adventitial layers of these diseased blood vessels. The invention is based on the delivery of proteolytic enzymes and crosslinking agents via specialized delivery devices to a select layer of the diseased blood vessel wall. By isolating and treating these layers of the artery, collagen degrading and collagen crosslinking agents can be delivered so as to affect the diameter of the blood vessels and control blood flow therein.

Methods and devices for treating diseased blood vessels

An instrument for manipulating a vessel in a patient includes a cannula having a lumen for providing insufflation to create a working space in the tissue of a patient, and a first manipulator for manipulating a vessel located within the working space. The first manipulator is slidably movable within the cannula from a stowed position, where the first manipulator is substantially disposed within the cannula, to a forward position, where at least a portion of the first manipulator is disposed outside the cannula. The first manipulator is rotatable when in the forward position to an extended position.

Space-creating retractor with vessel manipulator

Impression devices are provided for making an impression of a desired feature. The impression devices include: a flexible bladder having a cavity formed therein, the flexible bladder being capable of conforming to the details of the desired feature; a rheological material, such as a magnetorheological fluid, disposed in the cavity of the flexible bladder; and an activator for applying an external stimulus to the rheological material to change the state of the rheological material and thereby capture an impression of the desired feature.

Methods and devices utilizing rheological materials

A leg model, designed to teach endoscopic saphenous vein harvesting, is provided that accurately models the anatomy of the saphenous vein in the human thigh, and closely approximates the subcutaneous tissues in a human. The subcutaneous tissue is formulated and manufactured such that the saphenous vein adheres to the subcutaneous tissue to simulate the adhesion in a human leg. The model includes a reusable base and a replaceable single use insert. The base is size and configured to receive the insert. The tray can include a slit located at a point along its length that permits the ends of the tray to rotate about the slit so that the ends can be bent with respect to one another.

Training model for endoscopic vessel harvesting

A method for determining the length and velocity of single elongated macromolecules is disclosed. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for determining the velocity of elongated polymeric molecules moving relative to one or more detection stations, as well as to methods and apparatus for determining the length of such molecules and the distance between landmarks that may be present on such molecules. The invention makes use of time correlated measurements of signal amplitude profiles that result from interactions between each detection station and portions of each macromolecule.

Methods and apparatus for characterization of single polymers

A method of forming a lesion at a predetermined heart location is provided. An energy-delivering electrode is positioned proximal to the predetermined heart location; a return electrode is positioned in contact with cardiac tissue. An electrosurgical current, capable of delivering energy through the energy-delivering electrode to the predetermined heart location at a magnitude and for a duration effective to form a lesion is established. A system for treating atrial fibrillation by forming transmural lesions and a heart-positioning device including a return electrode are also provided. In one embodiment, one of the electrodes includes at least a portion that is selectively movable between a first, retracted position in which the electrode is adapted to be deployed through tissue, and a second, expanded position in which the electrode is adapted to be placed within a chamber of a heart.

Expandable intracardiac return electrode and method of use

The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for characterization of single polymers. In particular, the invention relates to methods and apparatuses for determination of the velocities of single elongated polymers. Center-of-mass velocity, center-to-center velocity, end-to-end velocity and rise-time velocity are determined using time-correlated measurements of single elongated polymers in two or more detection zones. The invention also relates to methods of determinating lengths and molecular masses of single polymers and to methods of determining the distance between landmarks on a single polymers based on their velocities. The invention further relates to methods of single-molecule DNA restriction fragment analysis.

Methods and apparatuses for characterization of single polymers

A method of forming a lesion at a predetermined heart location is provided. An energy-delivering electrode is positioned proximal to the predetermined heart location; a return electrode is positioned in contact with cardiac tissue. An electrosurgical current, capable of delivering energy through the energy-delivering electrode to the predetermined heart location at a magnitude and for a duration effective to form a lesion is established. A system for treating atrial fibrillation by forming transmural lesions and a heart-positioning device including a return electrode are also provided.

System and method for performing cardiac tissue ablation

An ablation method and device contacts one surface of a target layer and positions the tissue to ablate entirely through the layer. The tissue may be a wall of the heart (ablated, for example, to form blocking lesions for atrial fibrillation), and ablation may be performed with the heart stopped or beating, and effected by either endocardial or epicardial contact. Access may be through an open incision or a minimally invasive technique involving a small opening through which one or more elongated surgical tools are inserted. Illustratively, an atrial ablation treatment can be performed prophylactically (after CABG), or independently to treat an existing condition. A tool of the present invention has a handle at a proximal end, a bipolar ablation head, and an elongated body interconnecting the handle and the ablation head. A channel or contoured surface fixes and bends the tissue such that inter-electrode conduction paths span the thickness of the layer, thus dependably creating a fully transmural ablation lesion. The oriented transmural energy conduction paths reduce the possibility of inducing coagulation of blood in the heart chamber. One bipolar assembly has an electrode spacing of approximately ten millimeters across a channel of about five millimeters depth. Preferably the ablation head forms a suction holder, connected through internal passages to a vacuum pressure of about 100-500 mmHg, and immobilizes the contacted tissue.

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Somerville, MA, United States of America

Parris S Wellman