A medical device has an artificial contractile structure including at least one contractile element adapted to contract a hollow body organ in such a way that said contractile element is adapted to be in a resting position or in an activated position, the activated position being defined with the contractile element constricting the hollow body organ and the resting position being defined with the contractile element not constricting the hollow body organ. The medical device further includes a tensioning device adapted to apply a force so as to tighten the contractile element around the hollow body organ. The contractile element further includes a closure for forming the contractile element into a closed loop around said hollow body organ, the closure having a plurality of lips arranged to engage the contractile element.

According to an aspect, a medical device includes an elongate member, a needle, and a suture. The needle is movably coupled to the elongate member. The suture is disposed within a lumen defined by the elongate member. The suture has a coupling member coupled to a first portion of the suture. The coupling member is configured to be coupled to a second portion of the suture.

A medical device may include an implantable device for treating a body tissue structure. The implantable device may include a wire structure which may include a wave pattern. The wire structure may be elastic so as to provide a pressure around the body tissue structure such that the pressure may change with movement of the body tissue structure.

Disclosed are an automatic control system for urinary incontinence with a function of multi-point switching in turn and an intracorporeal apparatus (200) thereof. The intracorporeal apparatus (200) is completely implanted in a body. The intracorporeal apparatus (200) comprises an intracorporeal microcontroller (220) and urethral blockers (230), the intracorporeal microcontroller (220) being configured to control the urethral blockers (230) to block and unblock the urethra. The intracorporeal apparatus (200) comprises at least two urethral blockers (230) provided at different locations on the urethra, i.e., a first urethral blocker (230a) and a second urethral blocker (230b), and the intracorporeal microcontroller (220) is configured to control the at least two urethral blockers (230) to block and unblock the urethra in turn.

A plurality of structures that resiliently attract one another are provided for implanting in a patient around a body tissue structure of the patient. For example, the body tissue structure may be the esophagus, and the plurality of structures may be implanted in an annulus around the outside of the esophagus, the annulus being substantially coaxial with the esophagus. The attraction may be between annularly adjacent ones of the structures in the annulus, and it may be provided, for example, by magnets or springs. The array of structures is preferably self-limiting with respect to the smallest area that it can encompass, and this smallest area is preferably large enough to prevent the apparatus from applying excessive pressure to tissue passing through that area.

The invention relates to a method for draining a medical device (1) adapted to be implanted in a human or animal body, said medical device comprising a housing (11) that encloses a fluid reservoir (13), and a fluid outlet (12) that forms a fluid connection between the reservoir and a volume outside the housing, the method involving: —providing the device in packaging comprising a tank (2), the housing being held in the tank in a position in which the reservoir is located between the bottom of the tank and the fluid outlet; —filling the tank (2) with a biocompatible fluid such that a zone of the packaging which lies outside the medical device and is in fluid connection with the fluid outlet of the tank is immersed in the fluid; —draining the medical device and filling the reservoir (13) with the biocompatible fluid.

The present invention provides a warp-knitted fabric and a medical material that can be simultaneously extended in all directions by causing thread made of a second bioabsorbable material to be absorbed in a living body over time and in which the degree of extension can be increased. The present invention provides a warp-knitted fabric 10 in which adjacent loop rows are linked, the warp-knitted fabric 10 including: a plurality of first loop rows including a first thread and composed of continuous loops extending in the warp direction; and one or two or more second loop rows disposed between the first loop rows and composed of continuous loops extending in the warp direction, wherein each second loop row is formed of one or two or more loops solely including a second thread and one or two or more loops including the first thread, which are arranged alternately, at least three first loop rows are linked together by the first thread, and the bioabsorption rate of the first thread is lower than the bioabsorption rate of the second thread.

Provided is an artificial bladder including: a main body which includes an inlet port, an outlet port, and a predetermined reservoir portion configured to store urine between the inlet port and the outlet port and is formed of a biocompatible polymer that is expandable so that a volume of the reservoir portion changes according to the amount of urine; a sensor which is attached to an outer wall of the main body, has a surface having a wrinkled structure, and is provided so that, when the volume of the reservoir portion increases, the wrinkled structure stretches out and resistance of the sensor changes; and an actuator which is provided at the outlet port and is configured to discharge the urine according a result detected by the sensor.

Where an implanted reservoir for intestinal contents is formed from surgically modified intestine that has been cut along a mutual contact line of laterally adjacent sections of a bent portion of intestine and connected so that the resulting upper and lower halves of the intestine form an intestinal wall of the reservoir, the system for emptying such intestinal reservoir comprises an artificial flow control device implantable in the patient's body and adapted to control flow of the intestinal contents from said reservoir, the flow control device comprising at least one pump adapted to act on said intestinal wall so as to reduce the reservoir's volume, thereby emptying the reservoir. The system may further comprise an entry valve upstream of the reservoir and an exit valve downstream from the reservoir. The pump may be an electrical stimulation type pump, a hydraulically acting type pump or/and a mechanically acting type pump.

Aspects of the disclosure include bodily lumen reshaping and reduction systems, devices and methods. Such implants can include a plurality of anchors serially interconnected with a cinching member. Delivery devices of the disclosure are configured to deploy a first anchor into tissue. The delivery device can then deploy a second anchor and wind the cinching member around the second anchor to reduce a distance between the first and second anchors, placating the tissue between the anchors. Additional anchors can be similarly deployed and the cinching member can be similarly adjusted to reshape the lumen. Methods of deploying and reshaping a bodily lumen are also disclosed. In various examples, the bodily lumen is a heart valve, atrial appendage, portion of a gastrointestinal tract or urethra. Various embodiments include one or more anchors having a ratchet assembly or the like to substantially prevent the cinching member from unwinding.