Implant for the closing of defect openings in the body of a human or animal and a system for the placement of such an implant

Abstract

To bring about an improvement in comparison with known implants, in particular with regard to economical mass production, an implant for the closing of defect openings in the body of a human or animal is proposed, with a load-bearing structure which, in a first operating state (primary form), has a great ratio of length to transverse extent along an axis and, at least in a further operating state (secondary form), has a much smaller ratio of length to transverse extent along the axis, the load-bearing structure being capable of being reversibly transformed from the secondary form into the primary form by exertion of a force against elastic material forces, the secondary form assuming approximately the form of a double disc with a proximal disc element and a distal disc element for receiving the surroundings of the defect opening between the disc elements, and the load-bearing structure being formed essentially in one piece without joining connections, and a placement system, in particular for such an implant, is proposed, with a stretching element and at least one, preferably two, holding wires, the stretching element serving for interacting with a distal end of an implant and the holding wire or wires serving for interacting with a proximal end of an implant, the implant being capable of being transformed from a primary form into a secondary form and vice versa by relative movement of the holding wires in relation to the stretching element.