In alternative embodiments, the invention provides compositions, e.g., formulations, used for gastric, gastrointestinal and/or colonic treatments or lavage, e.g., orthostatic lavage, e.g., for inducing the purgation (e.g., cleansing) of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including a colon; and methods for making and using them. In alternative embodiments, compositions and methods of the invention are used for the stabilization, amelioration, treatment and/or prevention of constipation, for the treatment of abdominal pain, particularly non-specific abdominal pain, and diarrhea, including diarrhea caused by a drug side effect, a psychological condition, a disease or a condition such as Crohn's Disease, a poison, a toxin or an infection, e.g., a toxin-mediated traveler's diarrhea, or C. difficile or the pseudo-membranous colitis associated with this infection. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides pharmaceuticals and products (articles) of manufacture for delivering these compositions and formulations to an individual, e.g., a human or an animal. The invention also provides devices for delivering a fecal material to a patient.

Methods and systems are provided for diagnosis and possibly treatment of the large intestine, using samples from at least three portions of the large intestine, including sampling the ascending proximal portion thereof. Samples from the ascending portions of the large intestine were found to differ in their microbial characteristics significantly from prior art stool samples and from samples taken from the descending and transverse parts of the large intestine—enabling more accurate diagnosis and possibly more effective treatment of diseases of the large intestine.

In alternative embodiments, the invention provides compositions, e.g., formulations, used for gastric, gastrointestinal and/or colonic treatments or lavage, e.g., orthostatic lavage, e.g., for inducing the purgation (e.g., cleansing) of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including a colon; and methods for making and using them. In alternative embodiments, compositions and methods of the invention are used for the stabilization, amelioration, treatment and/or prevention of constipation, for the treatment of abdominal pain, particularly non-specific abdominal pain, and diarrhea, including diarrhea caused by a drug side effect, a psychological condition, a disease or a condition such as Crohn's Disease, a poison, a toxin or an infection, e.g., a toxin-mediated travelers diarrhea, or C. difficile or the pseudo-membranous colitis associated with this infection. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides pharmaceuticals and products (articles) of manufacture for delivering these compositions and formulations to an individual, e.g., a human or an animal. The invention also provides devices for delivering a fecal material to a patient.

An improved surgical device is disclosed herein. The improved surgical device includes a delivery device and a sealed container. The sealed contained is prepositioned internal to the delivery device and includes an antimicrobial solution. The improved surgical device is configured for inserting an implant into a surgical site. In some embodiments, the sealed container is configured to be manually broken to release the antimicrobial solution prior to inserting the implant into the delivery device. In other embodiments, the sealed container is configured to be automatically broken to release the antimicrobial solution prior to inserting the implant into the delivery device.

A system for applying a lavage fluid to a surface, the system having a body configured to house a lavage fluid, an application member in fluid communication with the body, the application member being configured to dispense the lavage fluid, and a warming component configured to communicate with the body so as to transfer energy from the warming component to the body sufficient to warm the lavage fluid housed in the body.

Sampling systems and methods for non-invasive sampling of inner-colonic microbiome and its potential derivatives are provided. The sampling systems may operate in fluid communication with a large intestine cleansing system and comprise an electromechanical sampling device configured to collect at least a part of large intestine contents drained by the cleansing system. The electromechanical sampling device may comprise a collection unit configured to collect at least one sample from the contents, and an electromechanical robotic unit configured to move the collection unit to and from a sampling position and to manipulate the collection unit into a respective casing, to deposit the sample(s). Sampling methods may comprise optically monitoring drained contents of the large intestine, characterizing the optically-monitored (and possibly spectrally analyzed) drained contents to determine sampling times, and sampling the drained contents according to the characterization.

In alternative embodiments, the invention provides compositions, e.g., formulations, used for gastric, gastrointestinal and/or colonic treatments or lavage, e.g., orthostatic lavage, e.g., for inducing the purgation (e.g., cleansing) of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including a colon; and methods for making and using them. In alternative embodiments, compositions and methods of the invention are used for the stabilization, amelioration, treatment and/or prevention of constipation, for the treatment of abdominal pain, particularly non-specific abdominal pain, and diarrhea, including diarrhea caused by a drug side effect, a psychological condition, a disease or a condition such as Crohn's Disease, a poison, a toxin or an infection, e.g., a toxin-mediated travelers diarrhea, or C. difficile or the pseudo-membranous colitis associated with this infection. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides pharmaceuticals and products (articles) of manufacture for delivering these compositions and formulations to an individual, e.g., a human or an animal. The invention also provides devices for delivering a fecal material to a patient.

Irrigation devices, methods, and systems are disclosed. The system comprises a catheter with one or more lumens and an expandable portion. One or more pumps are used to supply a mixture of contrasting and dilating agents in an interior kidney volume and flush a portion of the mixture out of the interior kidney volume. The method comprises placing a catheter into the interior kidney volume through a ureter, occluding a portion of the ureter with a distal end of the catheter, forming an exit port through an exterior kidney surface, flowing the contrasting and dilating agents through the one or more lumens to supply the mixture in the interior kidney volume, and flushing a portion of the mixture out of the exit port.

In alternative embodiments, the invention provides compositions, e.g., formulations, used for gastric, gastrointestinal and/or colonic treatments or lavage, e.g., orthostatic lavage, e.g., for inducing the purgation (e.g., cleansing) of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including a colon; and methods for making and using them. In alternative embodiments, compositions and methods of the invention are used for the stabilization, amelioration, treatment and/or prevention of constipation, for the treatment of abdominal pain, particularly non-specific abdominal pain, and diarrhea, including diarrhea caused by a drug side effect, a psychological condition, a disease or a condition such as Crohn's Disease, a poison, a toxin or an infection, e.g., a toxin-mediated travelers diarrhea, or C.difficile or the pseudo-membranous colitis associated with this infection. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides pharmaceuticals and products (articles) of manufacture for delivering these compositions and formulations to an individual, e.g., a human or an animal. The invention also provides devices for delivering a fecal material to a patient.

Systems and methods for cleaning a colon or other portion of an intestine include optional use of sensors to detect conditions of blockage of flow of materials within an evacuation channel used to remove fecal material from the body; and devices and methods for purging such blockages from the evacuation channel.