Devices and methods are provided for supporting a subject's heart, e.g., to support the left and/or right ventricles of the heart, e.g., to prevent and/or treat heart failure. In one example, the device includes a sleeve configured to be implanted over a region of the subject's heart including a lattice formed on a surface of the sleeve. The sleeve may be positioned and permanently implanted over a desired region of the subject's heart to provide passive support to ventricular tissue of the heart.

Systems and methods are described for capturing images of articles under test and processing the images to automatically detect the failure of a test article. The described methods include optimizing image capture to allow for the use of low cost imaging devices instead of high speed cameras or other expensive equipment. The described methods also include several methods for processing the images to identify the occurrence of a failure event.

In part, the disclosure relates to systems and methods to assess stent/scaffold expansion in a vessel on an expedited time scale after stent/scaffold placement and expansion. In one embodiment, the method generates a first representation of a stented segment of the blood vessel indicative of a level of stent expansion; determines using the detected stent struts, a first end of the stent and a second end of the stent; and generate a second representation of the segment of the blood vessel by interpolating a lumen profile using an offset distance from the first end and the second end.

A catheter is described for the transvascular implantation of prosthetic heart valves, e.g., including self-expanding anchorage supports, to reduce the risk to the patient during the implantation. Accordingly, a prosthetic heart valve with anchorage supports is temporarily housed in a folded form in a cartridge-type unit during the implantation. The cartridge-type unit can be fixed on the proximal end of a guide system, which includes a flexible region that can be guided through the aorta. Actuating elements run through the interior of the hollow guide system, permitting sections of the cartridge-type unit to be displaced radially about their longitudinal axis and/or laterally in a proximal direction, thus allowing individual sections of the anchorage support and the associated prosthetic heart valve to be sequentially released.

An implantable prosthesis for mending anatomical defects, including a groin hernia. The prosthesis includes a prosthetic repair patch that may be implanted in different tissue planes to mend a defect. The patch may include a medial portion configured to be positioned in a first tissue plane and a lateral portion configured to be positioned in a second tissue plane offset from the first tissue plane. The patch may include a transition region configured to extend through tissue and/or muscle, such as fascia, separating the tissue planes and transition the patch from one tissue plane to the other tissue plane. The transition region may be configured to inhibit buckling and/or bunching of the patch when implanted through the fascia. The lateral portion of the patch may have a level of stiffness that facilitates implantation of the patch in different tissue planes while inhibiting patient sensation to the implanted patch.

A system and method for an improved connective tissue repair option that reduces disadvantages of conventional fixation options. Biologic press fit fixation of a connective tissue unit may include in situ expansion of a pre-compressed connective tissue unit within a prepared bone tunnel of a portion of bone. An external opening accessing a cavity of the prepared bone tunnel may be smaller than that of the cavity such that expansion of the installed/compressed connective tissue unit increases lateral fixation forces exerted by the expanding/decompressing compressed connective tissue unit within the bone tunnel.

An improved medical device reduces the loss of longitudinal length during expansion of a stent-graft from a compressed state to an expanded state. For example, the stent-graft is placed over a cover that provides resistance to expansion of the balloon during inflation, which reduces longitudinal compressing forces exerted on the stent-graft.

The present disclosure relates to a wire-mesh stent having a radius of the outmost boundary defined by the following Formula 1 and consisting of a combination of a hook and a cross, a method for manufacturing the same and a method for patterning a multi-alterable structure thereof:

R.sub.ob=R.sub.tb/(COS(180/N.sub.xo))Formula 1

The present disclosure microscopically analyzes and quantifies a basic structure of a wire-mesh stent from a viewpoint of integrating, rather than separating, a stent and a delivery device which are main components of a stent system, especially in order to ensure the loadability that can be applied to the delivery device, which is a practical necessity. Moreover, the present disclosure forms a multi-alterable structure pattern that is transformable to various application structures in order to realize a required specific performance, instead of one specific stent structure.

Methods of selecting and implanting prosthetic devices for use as a replacement meniscus are disclosed. The selection methods include a pre-implantation selection method and a during-implantation selection method. The pre-implantation selection method includes a direct geometrical matching process, a correlation parameters-based matching process, and a finite element-based matching process. The implant identified by the pre-implantation selection method is then confirmed to be a suitable implant in the during-implantation selection method. Methods of implanting meniscus prosthetic devices are also disclosed.

The disclosure relates to a method for evaluating electrically conductive objects comprising the steps of: (A) providing a computer-generated model of the object to be evaluated; (B) defining the one-dimensional representation of the object by means of a curve line, center trajectory, along the longitudinal axis of the object; (C) defining a number of radii, blue disks, along the center trajectory, said radii enclosing the three-dimensional geometry of the object; (D) generating a plurality of auxiliary trajectories using the radii defined in step (C), wherein the totality of the trajectories display the object with respect to its potential to absorb the applied tangential electric field, E-field; and (E) evaluating the tangential E-field at each of the trajectories generated in step (D) and the subsequent statistical preparation.