Implantable drainage valve for the treatment of hydrocephalus
AssigneeCordis Corporation
InventorAlain Lecuyer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An implantable drainage valve for the treatment of hydrocephalus is described. The valve includes a body, a valve seat, a closure member, a spring and at least one spherical weight. The spring is positioned within the cylindrical chamber of the valve body and between the closure member and the spherical weight. The valve is intended to be vertically oriented when the patient is sitting or standing and, when so oriented, the weight will provide additional compressive force against the spring to help maintain the valve in a closed condition. Consequently, hyperdrainage is avoided when the valve experiences normal variations in fluid pressure differentials such as when the patient rises from a lying or recumbent position to a standing position.
Claims17
A surgically implantable drainage valve for the treatment of hydrocephalus, comprising:
- a valve body;
- a valve seat within said valve body;
- a closure member dimensioned to be seated within said valve seat;
- a spring member within the valve body having a first end and a second end, said first end of said spring member securing said closure member in said valve seat;
- and
- a weight bearing against said second end of said spring member that provides additional force to compress the spring member against the closure member whenever the valve body is in a substantially vertical orientation.
A surgically implantable drainage valve for the treatment of hydrocephalus, comprising:
- a valve body having an upstream opening and a downstream opening therein and a valve chamber to establish fluid communication between said upstream and downstream openings;
- valve closure means in said valve chamber to selectively open and close said upstream opening in response to changes in fluid pressure differentials across the valve, said valve closure means maintaining said upstream opening in a closed condition when said fluid pressure differential is less than a first predetermined value;
- at least one weight positioned in said valve chamber and bearing against said valve closure means, said weight coacting with said valve closure means to maintain said upstream opening in a closed condition when said fluid pressure differential is less than a second predetermined value, said second predetermined value corresponding to a fluid pressure differential greater than said first predetermined value;
- and said valve body being implantable within the body of a living patient and said second predetermined value being in excess of variations in fluid pressure differences across the valve when the patient rises from a recumbent position.
A surgically implantable drainage valve for the treatment of hydrocephalus, comprising:
- a cylindrical valve body having an upstream opening and a downstream opening therein and a valve chamber to establish fluid communication between said upstream and downstream openings;
- said cylindrical valve body dimensioned for implantation within a living patient such that said cylindrical valve body is substantially horizontal when the patient is in a recumbent position and substantially vertical when the patient is standing;
- valve closure means in said valve chamber to selectively open and close said upstream opening in response to in fluid pressure differentials across the valve, said valve closure means maintaining said upstream opening in a closed condition when said fluid pressure differential is less than a first predetermined value;
- at least one weight positioned in said valve chamber and bearing against said valve closure means, said weight coacting with said valve closure means to maintain said upstream opening in a closed condition when said fluid pressure differential is less than a second predetermined value, said second predetermined value corresponding to a fluid pressure differential greater than said first predetermined value;
- and
- said at least one weight and said closure means positioned within said cylindrical valve body to provide said second predetermined value when said cylindrical valve body is substantially vertically oriented.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.