The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 10, 1997
Filed:
Jan. 19, 1996
William J Bertrand, Ventura, CA (US);
David A Watson, East Greenwich, RI (US);
Pudenz-Schulte Medical Research Corporation, Goleta, CA (US);
Abstract
A subcutaneously implantable and percutaneously adjustable fluid flow control device includes a magnetically adjustable valve for controlling fluid flow from an inlet to an outlet. The valve includes a housing having a fluid passageway therethrough, a valve element designed to bear upon a valve seat to close the passageway to fluid flow, and a spring which biases the valve element against the valve seat so as to keep the passageway closed until a fluid pressure differential between the inlet and the outlet exceeds a selected valve opening pressure. A fixed dual concentric stair-step array and an overlying rotor assembly permit the amount of bias applied to the valve element by the spring to be adjusted. The rotor assembly is adapted to rotate in response to an external or percutaneously-applied magnetic field. In one embodiment, the rotor assembly may be locked into one of several possible rotational positions relative to the stair-step array to prevent rotation thereof.