Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8135466 | Prophylactic bactericidal implant A medical implant system is described for inhibiting infection associated with a joint prosthesis implant. An inventive system includes an implant body made of a biocompatible material which has a metal component disposed on an external surface of the implant body. ... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8131363 | Closed-loop control of intermittent excitatory cardiac stimulation for therapeutic effect A device and method for delivering electrical stimulation to the heart in order to improve cardiac function in heart failure patients. The stimulation is delivered as high-output pacing in which the stimulation is excitatory and also of sufficient energy to augment ... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8131364 | Sensors having protective eluting coating and method therefor An apparatus includes an implantable device, such as a chronically implantable device that has a device body. One or more chemical sensors are coupled with the device body. A drug eluting substance is disposed at a location including at least one of on, directly adj... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8126554 | Implantable medical device with chemical sensor and related methods In an embodiment, the invention includes an implantable medical device with a pulse generator and a chemical sensor in communication with the pulse generator, the chemical sensor configured to detect an ion concentration in a bodily fluid. In an embodiment, the inve... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8086309 | Osmometric heart monitoring device and methods Embodiments of the invention are related to monitoring devices and methods with osmometric sensors, amongst other things. In an embodiment, an implantable heart failure monitoring system includes an implantable osmometric sensor configured to generate a signal corre... | 12/27/2011 |
| 7970470 | Diagnosis and/or therapy using blood chemistry/expired gas parameter analysis Methods and systems for diagnosing disorders, including, for example, disordered breathing, involve sensing one or more of a blood chemistry parameter and/or an expired gas parameter, such as expired respiratory gas concentration, blood gas concentration, and blood ... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7925347 | Assessment of cardiac output by implantable medical device An implantable medical device calculates cardiac output on a repeated basis based on acquired cardiac information that relates to one or more parameters of the Fick equation, including venous oxygen saturation, arterial oxygen saturation, estimated oxygen consumptio... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7890171 | Sensors having protective eluting coating and method therefor An apparatus includes an implantable device, such as a chronically implantable device that has a device body. One or more chemical sensors are coupled with the device body. A drug eluting substance is disposed at a location including at least one of on, directly adj... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7822474 | Methods for the prediction of arrhythmias and prevention of sudden cardiac death Methods and kits are provided for determining an increased likelihood of the occurrence of a cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia, congestive heart failure and other diseased conditions of the heart. The methods and kits comprise measuring serum NGF levels in a s... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7809441 | Implantable medical device with chemical sensor and related methods In an embodiment, the invention includes an implantable medical device with a pulse generator and a chemical sensor in communication with the pulse generator, the chemical sensor configured to detect an ion concentration in a bodily fluid. In an embodiment, the inve... | 10/05/2010 |
| 7734349 | Osmometric heart monitoring device and methods Embodiments of the invention are related to monitoring devices and methods with osmometric sensors, amongst other things. In an embodiment, the invention includes an implantable heart failure monitoring system including an osmometric sensor, the osmometric sensor co... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7329226 | System and method for assessing pulmonary performance through transthoracic impedance monitoring A system and method for assessing pulmonary performance through transthoracic impedance monitoring is described. Transthoracic impedance measures are directly collected through an implantable medical device. The transthoracic impedance measures are correlated to pul... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7310552 | Apparatus for indirectly stimulating the vagus nerve with an electrical field An apparatus for indirectly stimulating a vagus nerve of a patient includes electrodes positioned within the esophagus, trachea, or a jugular vein of a patient, on the neck of the patient, or in combinations of these locations. The apparatus further includes a means... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7280870 | Optically-connected implants and related systems and methods of use According to embodiments of the invention, one or more implants in a body may be connected with optical fibers for transmitting data and/or power to or from the implants. Aspects of the invention related to various embodiments of the actual implant as well as to var... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7277761 | Vagal stimulation for improving cardiac function in heart failure or CHF patients Exemplary methods for decreasing workload, maintaining or increasing cardiac output and/or achieving a desirable autonomic balance by stimulating one or more parasympathetic nerves. Various exemplary methods include delivering one or more stimulation pulses postinsp... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7269457 | Method and system for vagal nerve stimulation with multi-site cardiac pacing A method of performing a medical procedure is provided. The medical procedure includes stimulation of a patient's heart while stimulating a nerve of the patient in order to modulate the patient's inflammatory process. More particularly, the medical procedure include... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7225019 | Method and system for nerve stimulation and cardiac sensing prior to and during a medical procedure A method of performing a medical procedure, such as surgery, is provided. A nerve is stimulated in order to adjust the beating of the heart to a first condition, such as a stopped or slowed condition. The medical procedure is performed on the heart or another organ.... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225024 | Sensors having protective eluting coating and method therefor A cardiac management implantable device that has an intravascular device body, and one or more chemical sensors coupled with the intravascular device body. A drug eluting substance is disposed at a location including at least one of on, directly adjacent, or near th... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225025 | Multiplexed medical device lead with standard header Systems and methods for providing a cardiac stimulus device lead with additional sensing capabilities without violating header standards is disclosed. A cardiac stimulus device lead is provided according to one aspect. According to one embodiment, the lead includes ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7212860 | Apparatus and method for pacing mode switching during atrial tachyarrhythmias A method for operating a cardiac pacemaker in which the mode of operation of the pacemaker is altered in response to detecting an episode of atrial tachycardia. In accordance with the invention, the pacemaker's pacing mode is altered in a manner that attempts to mai... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7200436 | Implantable pulse generator and method having adjustable signal blanking An implantable pulse generator senses a cardiac signal, identifies cardiac events in the cardiac signal, and starts a blanking interval including a repeatable noise window blanking interval in response to each cardiac event. When noise is detected during the repeata... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7184829 | Method and system for nerve stimulation prior to and during a medical procedure A method of performing a medical procedure, such as surgery, is provided. A nerve is stimulated in order to adjust the beating of the heart to a first condition, such as a stopped or slowed condition. The medical procedure is performed on the heart or another organ.... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7184828 | Method and system for spinal cord stimulation prior to and during a medical procedure A method of performing a medical procedure, such as surgery, is provided. The spinal cord is stimulated in order to control at least one physiological function. The medical procedure is performed and stimulation of the spinal cord is stopped. ... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7164948 | Cardiac output measurement using dual oxygen sensors in right and left ventricles A pacemaker provides multi-chamber pacing with a pacing interval that can be programmed and adapted in response to cardiac output measurements for a given patient. In a typical embodiment, the pacemaker may provide pacing stimuli to both ventricles of a heart. In ad... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7142918 | Apparatus and method for pacing mode switching during atrial tachyarrhythmias A method for operating a cardiac pacemaker in which the mode of operation of the pacemaker is altered in response to detecting an episode of atrial tachycardia. In accordance with the invention, the pacemaker's pacing mode is altered in a manner that attempts to mai... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7142910 | Methods of indirectly stimulating the vagus nerve with an electrical field Controlled cessation of heart beat during coronary bypass surgery and other cardiac surgeries on a beating heart improves surgical technique, and is achieved typically by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve and administration of a combination of drugs. ... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7139613 | Implantable medical device communication system with pulsed power biasing An implantable medical device communication system communicates information between an implantable medical device and at least one slave device by way of a two-wire bus. Slave devices may include remote sensors, actuators and other implantable medical devices. The i... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7136704 | Blood oxygen monitoring system and a lead therefor An oxygen monitoring system measures the oxygen concentration in a patient's blood for use as a physiological control parameter in rate responsive pacing. The oxygen monitoring system includes an oxygen monitoring circuit embedded in a cardiac stimulation lead and m... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7136705 | Method and apparatus for monitoring sensor performance during rate-responsive cardiac stimulation A cardiac stimulation device and method monitor and store discrepancies in sensor indicated rates determined from two or more sensors generating signals related to metabolic demand. One feature included in the present invention is a sensor cross-check record that st... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7074194 | Apparatus and method for risk stratification of patients with chest pain of suspected cardiac origin The subject invention relates to the detection, diagnosis and risk stratification of clinical events such as acute coronary syndrome, in patients with signs and symptoms of suspected cardiac origin. In one embodiment, a clinical event in a patient is diagnosed by ob... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7062326 | Method and apparatuses for monitoring hemodynamic activities using an intracardiac impedance-derived parameter An intracardiac impedance-derived parameter, Half Cycle Activity (HCA) is used in sensing and controlling cardiac activities in implantable cardiac devices such as bradycardia pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators. This impedance-derived parameter correlates cl... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7029443 | System and method for monitoring blood glucose levels using an implantable medical device T-wave amplitude and QT interval are derived from patient cardiac signals. Then blood glucose levels are determined based on a combination of the T-wave amplitude and the QT interval. By using a combination of both T-wave-based and QT interval-based signals, blood g... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7013178 | Implantable medical device communication system An implantable medical device communication system communicates information between an implantable medical device and at least one slave device by way of a two-wire bus. Slave devices may include remote sensors and other implantable medical devices. The implantable ... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6968236 | Ceramic cardiac electrodes A cardiac electrode termination pair system that is particularly compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) procedures. The electrodes include tip and ring electrodes made of a body-compatible ceramic on which is applied via electroplating, sputtered or the li... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6937902 | Pacemaker with determination of the dependency of cardiac output on the AV-delay A cardiac pacemaker has a pulse generator for delivering stimulation pulses to a patient's heart and a control unit for controlling the delivery of the stimulation pulses from the pulse generator. The control unit includes an altering unit for altering the AV-delay ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6934583 | Implantable lead and method for stimulating the vagus nerve Methods and apparatus for stimulating the right vagal nerve within a living body via positioning an electrode portion of a lead proximate to the portion of the vagus nerve where the right cardiac branch is located (e.g., near or within an azygos vein, or the superio... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6934587 | System and method for automatic atrial capture detection and atrial pacing threshold determination An implantable dual chamber stimulation device provides a novel detection scheme for automatically detecting atrial capture and performing an atrial pacing threshold assessment. The stimulation device preferably waits until the patient is at or near rest and monitor... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6321101 | Method and device for determination of concentration In a method and a device for electrochemical determination of the concentration of at least one dissolved chemical entity in a liquid medium, a measurement voltage U is impressed on a working electrode, in contact with the liquid medium, relative to a cou... | 11/20/2001 |
| 6144866 | Multiple sensor assembly for medical electric lead An implantable sensor assembly for use with an implantable medical device are disclosed. The sensor assembly preferably includes two or more physiologic sensors coupled to the medical device via a pair of lead conductors, or alternatively an oxygen sensor... | 11/07/2000 |
| 6134459 | Light focusing apparatus for medical electrical lead oxygen sensor An implantable sensor assembly for use with an implantable medical device are disclosed. The sensor assembly preferably includes two or more physiologic sensors coupled to the medical device via a pair of lead conductors, or alternatively an oxygen sensor... | 10/17/2000 |
