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20120236 – A method to create heart valves and arteries for use in patients who require narrow tubes for long-term implantation has been developed. The process begins by trapping fibroblasts from skin tissue in fibrin gel, and then molding, conditioning and decellularizing the gel. Decellularization leaves the extracellular matrix of the tissue, which can be modified into durable, small-diameter... Read More
20130076 – A new surgical access system has been designed that is less invasive than current laparoscopic procedures and requires no insufflation of the body and, in many cases, no general anesthesia. The micro-orifice surgical access system has an angular retractor, which is able to enter into a part of the body and flower out to produce a greater area for visualization while holding surrounding... Read More
z05107 – With an aging population, cost-effective management of chronic heart disease is a high priority. In particular, pacemaker and defibrillator companies are increasingly interested in adding sensors and monitors to implantable devices to monitor for signs of cardiac problems. With early warning, the cardiac patient can seek medical attention prior to a life threatening event, resulting in... Read More
z04067 – One of the major problems facing patients with heart failure is pulmonary edema. It is now possible to monitor the extent of pulmonary edema by measuring impedance from the existing hardware of a cardiac rhythm management (CRM) device such as a cardiac pacemaker, a cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT-D) or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). By taking advantage of... Read More
z02056 – This medical device can close congenital heart defects and is self-centering, can completely occlude defects, and be retrieved back to the catheter in the event of sub-optimal deployment. The device is designed to be bioresorbable and has no metallic components. This simplifies the manufacturing of the device and allows the device to degrade over time and be replaced by natural fibrous... Read More
20120134 – A device that can measure the tension placed on tissues during orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries would enhance outcomes for those procedures. During orthopedic surgery, the proper treatment of the surrounding soft tissues, not just the bone, is crucial to a successful surgery. The soft tissues are often manipulated extensively, but there are currently no methods to measure the amount... Read More
20120069 – The microfluidic device can increase recovery and viability of cells, as well as increase extraction of the cryopreservation agent dimethly sulfoxide (DMSO), all at a low cost. Freezing cells such as cord blood, bone marrow, and stem cells require DMSO, but this cryopreservation agent needs to be removed before the cells are used in clinical applications. While current methods of... Read More
93103 – The epicardial pacemaker lead can be used in patients with previous transvenous leads and for use as a pediatric pacemaker in children who are generally not candidates for tranvenous lead placement. The lead is designed for insertion through a transxiphoid or subxiphoid incision, and then connects to the pulse generator. It contains coils and sensors configured as a loop and can be... Read More
cmrr – The Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) at the University of Minnesota develops magnetic resonance imaging, spectroscopy methodologies and instrumentation to non-invasively aquire structural, functional and biochemical information from humans. These capabilities are used to study the function of organs in healthy and diseased states. CMRR has developed pulse sequence software that... Read More
20100020 – Biologically active agents can be detected using a giant magnetoresistor (GMR) sensor and magnetic nanoparticle based coloring. Current optical fluorescence based techniques have low signal to noise and require bulky and expensive equipment. The magnetic biomedical sensor provides a low cost, high throughput, portable and high signal to noise method of detection. The magnetic signal can... Read More
z09049 – The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that corneal blindness affects more than 10 million people worldwide. Despite the increased prevalence, only 100,000 people receive corneal transplants each year through a process called keratoprosthesis. This shortfall is due to inadequate supply of donor corneas along with the unsuitability of some patients to receive a corneal graft due to... Read More
99091 – The Virtual Dental Patient is a combination of systems and methods that read digital medical records to create three-dimensional models. This computerized method for dental assessment provides an accurate three-dimensional representation of the surface anatomy of hard and soft tissues, tooth contacts, and motion of the patient’s jaw. The Virtual Dental Patient can accurately and... Read More
20110133 – Most wireless, charge-based sensors are based upon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology, which are micron-sized electro-mechanical devices. Typically, the capacitance is tuned by changing the mechanical spacing between two electrodes. The resulting sensors are large and not well-suited for in vivo applications. A graphene based variable capacitor varactor has been... Read More
20100235 – High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is a technology that produces high frequency, focused ultrasound beams to destroy diseased tissues. Ablation of tissues occurs when the ultrasound beams locally increase the temperature of diseased tissue in order to destroy the tissue. Presently, it has approval from the FDA as a treatment for uterine fibroids, though it's in clinical... Read More
z08220 – One of the major problems facing patients with heart failure is pulmonary edema. It is now possible to monitor the extent of pulmonary edema by measuring impedance from the leads of a cardiac pacemaker, a cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT-D) or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). By taking advantage of the body's natural electrophysiology, decreases in the... Read More
z06090 – Abnormal heart rhythms or cardiac arrhythmia such as ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter are common electrical activity anomalies of the heart. Effective? treatment relies on the ability to precisely locate these anomalies; the more site-specific the treatment, the better the clinical outcome. The heart electrical activity algorithm in this software creates... Read More
z07166 – A minimally invasive medical device detects the onset of syncope, warns patients of oncoming episodes and records data to enable clinicians to assess the underlying cause of the disease and determine an appropriate treatment course. Syncope is a common form of fainting that involves a loss of consciousness. The device uses impedance electrodes implanted near an artery outside of the... Read More
97145 – The Probability of Repeated Admission (Pra) elder health assessment survey identifies senior citizens who are at high risk of repeated hospital admissions and extensive use of health care services. The early prediction of hospital readmission risk helps those patients receive better medical attention, which will result in better health for them, and lower expenses for hospitals and... Read More
99107 – Plastic polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) microstructures can be formed in bacterial hosts and have applications in orthopedic devices, orthopedic implants, and other implantable medical devices. These materials are biocompatible and can degrade after being implanted. The biopolymers are synthesized in microbial hosts (bacteria) using a polymerase enzyme within the organisms, the biopolymers are... Read More
z02201 – An improved method to deliver bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMNC) into damaged heart tissue has been developed. By injecting a polyethylene glycol polymer chain (PEGylated) fibrin biomatrix carrying bound hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), the rate of cell engraftment and cardiac function after acute myocardial infarction, a heart attack, has been improved. The PEGylated fibrin... Read More
z06043 – This mobility aid helps the visually-impaired, or those working in low visibility areas, navigate indoors by assisting in the identification and avoidance of obstacles. The typical support instrument for the visually impaired is the "white cane", which is used for the detection of obstacles by providing a limited degree of feedback to the user. The portable indoor navigation aid alerts... Read More
