Triple cushion sphincteric web
AssigneeHabley Medical Technology Corporation
InventorTerry M. Haber
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sphincteric web for the treatment of incontinence having a particular alignment of three inflatable pressure cushions by which to prosthetically replicate the geometry of a normally continent rectum. The sphincteric web surrounds and embraces a patient's colon (or rectum), and the pressure cushions are inflated with hydraulic fluid from a hypodermically accessible source thereof. The inflated pressure cushions produce axial, deflective forces which closely mimic the three valvular deflections produced by the rectal valves in a healthy anatomy. Accordingly, the patient's colon is deflected, rather than constricted or obstructed, to increase the resistance to the flow of waste material and thereby return the patient to continence.
Claims10
A prosthetic sphincter to surround a passage of the human anatomy for treating incontinence by restricting the movement of material through said passage, said sphincter comprising a plurality of inflatable pressure cushions, each of said cushions located along said sphincter so as to be spaced from one another in a direction corresponding to the longitudinal axis of the passage to be restricted, and means for supplying fluid to said cushions for causing an inflation thereof, said sphincter being arranged with said passage such that an inflation of said cushions causes forces to be applied to said passage in respective planes which are aligned transversely to the longitudinal axis of said passage, with no two forces being applied to said passage in the same plane, so as to establish a deflection of said passage to thereby restrict the movement of material therethrough.
A prosthetic sphincter to surround and embrace the colon of an incontinent patient, said sphincter having longitudinal and lateral axes and comprising at least three inflatable compartments, two of said compartments being positioned at opposite sides of said sphincter on said longitudinal axis thereof and the third of said compartments being positioned at one end of said sphincter on said lateral axis in order to replicate the geometry of a normally continent rectum, and means to inflate said inflatable compartments to cause forces to be directed to said colon in respective planes which are aligned transversely to the longitudinal axis of the colon, such that no two forces are applied to the colon in the same plane, said forces acting to restrict the movement of material through the colon and thereby restore the patient to continence.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.