A surgical implant comprising a receiver member and deployment member for clamping and sealing tissue of variable thickness, a corresponding applicator tool and surgical system for connecting, sealing, fastening and/or attaching tissue to itself, to other tissue and/or to non-tissue structures, and/or sealing the flow of fluid at and/or between structures such as tissue and vessel structures.

A medical implant including an anchor portion including a plurality of arms adapted to engage an internal tissue wall of a body from two opposite faces, wherein the anchor portion is configured such that at least one of the arms does not have an entirely overlapping arm on the other side of the wall and an opening portion adapted to define an opening for blood flow through the internal tissue wall, when the anchor portion engages the wall.

A surgical stapling apparatus is provided and includes a housing, an elongated member, an end effector, and a staple formation circuit. The elongated member extends from the housing. The end effector is disposed on an end of the elongated member and has first and second jaws. The first jaw includes a staple cartridge having a plurality of staples. Each of the staples has first and second legs. The second jaw has a plurality of staple forming pockets. The staple formation circuit may be disposed on the second jaw. The staple formation circuit communicates a signal to a controller coupled to the staple formation circuit. The signal is representative of one or more of a formation, a malformation, and a nonformation of one or both of the first and second legs of one or more of the staples within one or more of the staple forming pockets.

A surgical instrument including a handle portion, a body portion, an articulating tool assembly and a locking assembly is disclosed. The handle portion includes a movable handle. The body portion extends distally from the handle portion and defines a first longitudinal axis. The articulating tool assembly defines a second longitudinal axis and is movable from a first position where the second longitudinal axis is substantially aligned with the first longitudinal axis to at least a second position where the second longitudinal axis is at an angle to the first longitudinal axis. The locking assembly includes a member that is advanceable distally with respect to the body portion. The member engages the articulating tool assembly upon manipulation of the movable handle to move an anvil and a cartridge assembly in approximation with one another to help maintain the articulating tool assembly in its first position.

One aspect of the present invention relates to a method of using peristalsis to force a polymer plug through a mammalian lumen, thereby removing any calculi and/or calculi fragments present in the lumen. In one embodiment, the method is used as an alternative to conventional lithotripsy. In another embodiment, the method is used in conjunction with lithotripsy, thereby removing the small calculi fragments that result from such procedures.

A medical clip device includes an outer tubular body; an inner tubular body provided in the outer tubular body; a clip provided at a distal side of the inner tubular body; and a line member including a first end part, a second end part, and a middle part, wherein the first end part and the second end part extend out of the inner tubular body from an inside of the inner tubular body at a proximal side of the inner tubular body, and the middle part is hung on the clip at the distal side of the inner tubular body.

A method for making a customized orthopedic surgical instrument for use in repairing a joint of a patient includes: obtaining image data associated with at least a portion of a bone corresponding to the joint of the patient; generating instructions to form a patient-specific orthopedic surgical instrument based at least in part on the image data; and forming the patient-specific orthopedic surgical instrument based on the instructions. The patient-specific orthopedic surgical instrument includes a resin composition, the resin composition including from about 50 wt % to about 90 wt % of a base thermoplastic and from about 10 wt % to about 50 wt % of a filler material. The base thermoplastic includes polyetherimide, polycarbonate, modified polyphenylene ether, polyamide, copolymers of these thermoplastics, and combinations thereof. The orthopedic surgical instrument includes at least one surface portion having a shape that substantially conforms to a corresponding surface portion of the bone.

An orthopedic surgical instrument includes from about 40 wt % to about 85 wt % of a base thermoplastic and from about 15 wt % to about 60 wt % of a filler material. The base thermoplastic includes polyetherimide, polycarbonate, modified polyphenylene ether, polyamide, copolymers of these thermoplastics, and combinations thereof. In some aspects all materials in the orthopedic surgical instrument are biocompatible. An orthopedic surgical kit includes an orthopedic surgical instrument and a container suitable for sealing the orthopedic surgical instrument therein. The orthopedic surgical instrument in the kit includes from about 50 wt % to about 90 wt % of a base thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of polyetherimide, polycarbonate, modified polyphenylene ether, polyamide, copolymers of these thermoplastics, and combinations thereof, and from about 10 wt % to about 50 wt % of a filler material.

A medical instrument with an elongated outer housing and inner drive shaft and including an instrument flushing system that enables the medical instrument to be effectively cleaned after use is disclosed. The medical instrument may be configured such that the instrument flushing system receives a flushing fluid through a port at a proximal end of the instrument and directs the flushing fluid through a flushing fluid plenum created between an inner surface of the elongated outer housing and an outer surface of the inner drive shaft. The flushing fluid plenum may be maintained by a standoff formed from a collar with one or more axially extending grooves. The instrument flushing system may include a seal to seal portions of a drive system in communication with the inner drive shaft and extending radially outward from a main body of the medical instrument.

A transfer device includes an elongate tube defining a lumen configured to support an organism and an obstruction positioned along the elongate tube. The obstruction is configured to prevent the organism from moving proximally past the obstruction, such that the obstruction defines a distal end region of the elongate tube in which the organism can move along the lumen of the elongate tube.