Apparatus and methods are described for treating a subject with a diseased mitral valve. A docking element (100) is implanted within the subject's left atrium such that no portion of the docking element extends through the subject's mitral valve. The docking becomes anchored to tissue of the left atrium at least partially via ingrowth of the tissue of the left atrium. The docking element (100) includes a ring (102), which is implanted at the subject's mitral valve annulus, and a frame (104), having a height of at least 15 mm, which extends upwardly from the ring. A prosthetic mitral valve apparatus (20) is placed at least partially inside the docking element subsequent to the ingrowth of the tissue of the left atrium having occurred, and becomes anchored to the docking element, at least partially by radially expanding against the ring. Other applications are also described.

A device for attaching a soft tissue graft to bone includes a body with a smooth contoured first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface having a plurality of outwardly extending fixation members. The second surface is at least partially formed of a porous material adapted for bone ingrowth. A channel extends at least partially through the body in between the first and second surfaces for receiving a portion of the graft. The channel is at least partially formed of a porous material adapted for tissue ingrowth, bone ingrowth or a combination thereof.

A device for modifying blood flow through a target artery of a patient is described. A method for treating obesity in a patient includes positioning the device in a first artery to decrease blood flow through a second artery causing hypoperfusion to a gastrointestinal organ serviced by the second artery, and interfering with gastrointestinal function to induce weight loss. A system for placement of a blood flow modification device within a first artery to gradually reduce blood flow to a second target artery while maintaining blood flow to the first artery is also provided. The device may be modifiable after treatment to restore or increase blood flow to the artery.

A system for treating a body lumen including a first stent configured to be positioned in a body lumen and a second stent configured to be positioned in the lumen of the first stent prior to removing the first stent from the body lumen. The first stent includes a liner disposed radially inward of the tubular scaffold of the first stent to permit tissue ingrowth within a tissue ingrowth region defined between the liner and the tubular scaffold. The retrieval stent is configured to be expanded within the previously implanted first stent to cause tissue to recede from the tissue ingrowth region to facilitate removal of the first stent from the body lumen.

Tissue engineering devices and methods employing scaffolds made of absorbable material for use in the human body for tissue genesis and regenerative and cellular medicine including breast reconstruction and cosmetic and aesthetic procedures and supplementing organ function in vivo.

The present disclosure provides an endoprosthesis where a preferably polymeric coating has a number of surface features such as protrusions or textures that are arranged in a micropattern. The endoprosthesis optionally has an expanded state and a contracted state, and in some cases includes a stent with a polymeric coating attached to an outer surface of the stent. The stent may have an inner surface defining a lumen, an outer surface, and a stent thickness defined between the inner surface and outer surface. The stent may comprise a plurality of surface textures extending from the stent surfaces, wherein the textures are arranged in a macropattern.

Disclosed is a bending-resistant nerve catheter and a preparation method and application thereof, and relates to the technical field of tissue engineering materials. The catheter of the present application includes an inner layer, a middle layer and an outer layer, and each layer uses raw materials of biodegradable polymers; among them, the inner layer includes a smooth surface inner layer, an oriented microchannel inner layer or a fibrous inner layer, the middle layer is a fibrous middle layer with crossing angles, the middle layer is prepared by entangling micron fibers with a certain angular arrangement, and the outer layer is made of randomly entangled polymer fibers and is tightly bonded to the middle layer.

Graft devices are provided addressing a long need for off-the-shelf small diameter replacement vessels to overcome the drawbacks of currently available alternatives. As they are available off-the-shelf, the graft devices do not require additional surgery to harvest it such as for a vein graft. A porous nature of the graft devices enables restoration process, which results in new natural and patient-own tissue, in contrast to currently existing vascular prosthesis that can never fully heal. A built-in graft support device over-comes the limited kink-resistance that is typical for these kinds of (electro-spun) porous devices. A zigzag pattern with alternating laminating and non-laminating areas enables the incorporation of the graft support device without the need for additional suturing or connecting the inner and outer layer for good lamination, while maintaining adequate kinkresistance.

Embodiments herein relate to a three-dimensional implant for tissue reconstruction or tissue augmentation for insertion into a patient. The implant comprises a plurality of strands forming a three-dimensional structure, which comprises a plurality of hollow channels. Each hollow channel comprises a plurality of sidewalls. A sidewall comprises a plurality of strand segments and a plurality of gaps arranged alternatingly so that a gap is formed between adjacent strand segments of the sidewall. The gap comprises a gap length (gl) and a resting gap height (gh). The plurality of gaps are reversibly expandable gaps. Adjacent strand segments comprise a deflection capability (δ) based on an object to be received by the reversibly expandable gap. A radius (R) of the plurality of strands and a gap lengths (gl) of a reversibly expandable gap is based on a yield strength (σ.sub.yield), the elastic modulus (E) of the material and a deflection capability δ of the adjacent strand segments forming the reversibly expandable gap.

The present disclosure relates to system and methods for preventing paravalvular leak (PVL) associated with a replacement of a structural cardiac valve. Specifically the disclosure relates to system and methods operable to prevent PVL by restricting the axial translation of a resilient prosthetic valve scaffold within a containing ring.