Harmless wireless energy transmission to implant
First Claim
1. An apparatus for treating urinary incontinence, comprising:
- an electrically powered stimulation device implantable in a urinary incontinent patient and adapted to electrically stimulate the urethral sphincter all the time, except when the patient wants to urinate, to maintain a sufficient tonus of the urethral sphincter that prevents urine from passing past the urethral sphincter, and a control device that controls said stimulation device, said control device including a hand-held wireless remote control adapted to control said stimulation device from outside the patient'"'"'s body, wherein said wireless remote control is operable by the patient to;
i) switch off said electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient wants to urinate, and switch on said electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and
ii) control said stimulation device as needed at any time over the course of a day to promptly adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urethral sphincter, so that the tonus of the urethral sphincter is quickly increased, whereby the patient is able to maintain continence.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for treating urinary incontinence comprises an electrically powered stimulation device that electrically stimulates the urethral sphincter of a urinary incontinent patient and a hand-held wireless remote control that controls the stimulation device. A stress or urge incontinent patient operates the remote control to: i) switch off the electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient wants to urinate, and switch on the electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and ii) control the stimulation device as needed at any time over the course of a day to promptly adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urethral sphincter to quickly increase the tonus of the urethral sphincter. An overflow incontinent patient operates the remote control to: i) switch on the stimulation device to cause the urine bladder contraction muscle to contract the bladder, when the patient wants to urinate, and switch off the electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and ii) control the stimulation device to adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urine bladder contraction muscle so that the bladder is emptied in a manner that is comfortable to the patient.
48 Citations
172 Claims
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1. An apparatus for treating urinary incontinence, comprising:
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an electrically powered stimulation device implantable in a urinary incontinent patient and adapted to electrically stimulate the urethral sphincter all the time, except when the patient wants to urinate, to maintain a sufficient tonus of the urethral sphincter that prevents urine from passing past the urethral sphincter, and a control device that controls said stimulation device, said control device including a hand-held wireless remote control adapted to control said stimulation device from outside the patient'"'"'s body, wherein said wireless remote control is operable by the patient to;
i) switch off said electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient wants to urinate, and switch on said electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and
ii) control said stimulation device as needed at any time over the course of a day to promptly adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urethral sphincter, so that the tonus of the urethral sphincter is quickly increased, whereby the patient is able to maintain continence. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123)
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84. An apparatus for treating urinary overflow incontinence, comprising
an electrically powered stimulation device implantable in a urinary overflow incontinent patient and adapted to electrically stimulate the urine bladder contraction muscle to contract the bladder, and a control device that controls said stimulation device, said control device including a hand-held wireless remote control adapted to control said stimulation device from outside the patient'"'"'s body, wherein said wireless remote control is operable by the patient to: -
i) switch on said electrically powered stimulation device to cause the urine bladder contraction muscle to contract the bladder, when the patient wants to urinate, and switch off said electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and
ii) control said stimulation device to adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urine bladder contraction muscle to empty the bladder in a manner that is comfortable to the patient. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164)
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165. A method for treating a patient suffering from urinary incontinence, comprising the steps of:
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implanting in the patient an electrically powered stimulation device in direct engagement with the urethral sphincter, electrically stimulating the urethral sphincter by the stimulation device to increase the tonus thereof, providing a hand-held wireless remote control adapted to control the stimulation device from outside the patient'"'"'s body, and operating the wireless remote control by the patient holding it to;
i) switch off the electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient wants to urinate;
ii) switch on the electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and
iii) control the stimulation device when various needs arise over the course of a day to promptly adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urethral sphincter so that the tonus of the urethral sphincter is quickly increased. - View Dependent Claims (166, 167)
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168. A method for treating a patient suffering from urinary overflow incontinence, comprising the steps of:
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implanting in the patient an electrically powered stimulation device in direct engagement with the urine bladder contraction muscle, providing a hand-held wireless remote control adapted to control the stimulation device from outside the patient'"'"'s body, and operating the wireless remote control by the patient holding it to;
i) switch on the electrically powered stimulation device to electrically stimulate the urine bladder contraction muscle to contract the bladder, when the patient wants to urinate, and switch off the electrically powered stimulation device, when the patient has finished urinating; and
ii) control the stimulation device when the patient is urinating to adjust the intensity of the electric stimulation of the urine bladder contraction muscle so that the bladder is emptied in a manner that is comfortable to the patient. - View Dependent Claims (169, 170, 171, 172)
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Specification