An implant for assisting contraction and/or extension of a muscle comprises a stem (10) with an adhesion resistant segment (14) and an anchoring segment (20) wherein at least a portion of each of said adhesion resistant segment and said anchoring segment is configured to be implantable within a muscle and said anchoring segment is positioned on a distal portion of said stem and said adhesion resistant segment is positioned proximally on said stem relative to said anchoring segment.

A soft buckling linear actuator is described, including: a plurality of substantially parallel bucklable, elastic structural components each having its longest dimension along a first axis; and a plurality of secondary structural components each disposed between and bridging two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components; wherein every two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components and the secondary structural components in-between define a layer comprising a plurality of cells each capable of being connected with a fluid inflation or deflation source; the secondary structural components from two adjacent layers are not aligned along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis; and the secondary structural components are configured not to buckle, the bucklable, elastic structural components are configured to buckle along the second axis to generate a linear force, upon the inflation or deflation of the cells. Methods of actuation using the same are also described.

A biocompatible sleeve designed to encase an assembly of small 3D muscles that have been cultured in vitro. The sleeve is formed from polymer fibers in such a way that pushing the two ends of the sleeve towards each other increases the diameter of the sleeve so as to facilitate insertion of the engineered muscles. Subsequent pulling at the ends of the sleeves decreases the diameter of the sleeve to facilitate a secure fit around the engineered muscle during implantation of the sleeve into a patient. The composition of the polymer fibers can be tuned to achieve the desired mechanical properties and rate of degradability.

Fixation device cartridges. At least one example embodiment is a cartridge including: a first tube; a second tube parallel to first tube; a first spacer coupled to the first tube and the second tube such that slots of the first and second tubes face each other; a second spacer coupled to the first tube and the second tube, the first and second spacers defining a suture volume between the slots of the first and second tubes, and the slot of the first tube and the slot of the second tube open into the suture volume; a first bone anchor disposed within the first tube, a first suture line associated with the first bone anchor and extending through the slot; and a second bone anchor disposed within the second tube and coupled to the first suture line.

A medical device includes an artificial contractile structure which may be advantageously used to assist the functioning of a hollow organ, an artificial contractile structure including at least one contractile element (100) adapted to contract an organ, in such way that the contractile element (100) is in a resting or in an activated position, at least one actuator designed to activate the contractile structure, and at least one source of energy for powering the actuator. The ratio “current which is needed to maintain the contractile element in its activated position and in its resting position/current which is needed to change the position of the contractile element” is less than 1/500, preferably less than 1/800, and more preferably less than 1/1000. The medical device further includes elements for reducing corrosion of the medical device.

An anatomy-specific implant for neuroplastic surgery. The implant includes a soft tissue implant component designed within and adapted to replace or restore missing soft tissue in a skull, joint or spine of the patient, wherein the soft tissue implant component is adapted to be coupled by an interdigitated connection to a rigid component. The rigid component can be a skull implant adapted to replace missing cranial or vertebral bone, or healthy cranial or vertebral bone, either of which can have downward extending catheters for medicinal brain or spinal cord infusion to help bypass the blood-brain barrier via multiphase flow. The soft tissue implant may include a functional component having neurotechnologies such as MRI-lucent pumps, Bluetooth connection systems, refillable diaphragms, remote imaging devices, wireless charging capabilities, and/or informative biosensors. The soft tissue implant component may be interchangeable with another soft tissue implant component in plug-and-play fashion.

An additive manufacturing (AM) device for biomaterials comprises a reservoir, a shaft, and a material delivery head. The device can be used for intracorporeal additive manufacturing. Material within the reservoir can be expelled by a mechanical transmission element, for example a syringe pump, a peristaltic pump, an air pressure pump, or a hydraulic pressure pump. The reservoir can be a barrel, a cartridge, or a cassette. The reservoir can narrow into the shaft, and the shaft can terminate into the nozzle. The shaft can house an inner tube. The device can have an actuator joint capable of being mechanically linked to a robotic surgical system. The actuator joint can have a motor that drives the mechanical transmission element.

The present invention is an anatomic system which uses the principle of applying higher elastic tonus than the rest tonus of the agonist muscles to provide the function of the antagonist muscles, and which is designed in a simplest way to provide the said purpose and which can be integrated to the body. The static mechanism of the invention is an elastic mechanism which applies a continuous stable tension in order to keep the joints open. The tension of the mechanism is calibrated by increasing or decreasing the amount of the liquid in a chamber which has flexible and elastic walls up to a certain via a port. In the dynamic mechanism of the invention, the tension applied by the elastic mechanism can be changed according to the motion the patient wants to perform.

A biocompatible structure includes one or more base structures for regeneration of different tissues. Each base structure includes alternately stacked polymer layers and spacer layers. The polymer layer includes a polymer and tissue forming nanoparticles. The polymer includes polyurethane. The tissue forming nanoparticles includes hydroxypatites (HAP) nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, or nanofibers. The spacer layer includes bone particles, polymeric nanoparticles, or nanofibers. The weight percentage of tissue forming nanoparticles to the polymer in the polymer layer in one base structure is different from that in the other base structures. A method of producing the biocompatible structure includes forming multiple base structures stacked together, coating the stacked multiple base structures, and plasma treating the coated structure.

Apparatus consisting of a plurality of mechanically connected magnetic elements implanted around the lower esophagus sphincter with the purpose to restore its normal function in patients suffering from gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), while avoiding dysphagia.