Method for controlling flow of intestinal contents in a patient's intestines
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) gently constricting with a constriction device each of the intestinal wall portions of a series of intestinal wall portions of an intestinal tissue wall of the patient to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and(b) stimulating with a stimulation device at least one constricted intestinal wall portion of the series of intestinal wall portions to cause contraction of the at least one intestinal wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway,wherein the series of intestinal wall portions are successively further constricted by the stimulation device along the intestines;
to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines, orto prevent the intestinal contents to move in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines, andstimulating any of the at least one constricted intestinal wall portions of the series of intestinal wall portions in random or in accordance with a predetermined sequence to close the intestinal passageway.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There is provided a method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines. The method comprises gently constricting (i.e., without substantially hampering the blood circulation in the intestinal tissue wall) at least one portion of the intestinal tissue wall to influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, and stimulating the constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway. The method can be used for restricting or stopping the flow in the intestinal passageway, or for actively moving the fluid in the intestinal passageway, with a low risk of injuring the intestines.
251 Citations
128 Claims
-
1. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) gently constricting with a constriction device each of the intestinal wall portions of a series of intestinal wall portions of an intestinal tissue wall of the patient to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and (b) stimulating with a stimulation device at least one constricted intestinal wall portion of the series of intestinal wall portions to cause contraction of the at least one intestinal wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the series of intestinal wall portions are successively further constricted by the stimulation device along the intestines; to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines, or to prevent the intestinal contents to move in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines, and stimulating any of the at least one constricted intestinal wall portions of the series of intestinal wall portions in random or in accordance with a predetermined sequence to close the intestinal passageway. - 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. A method of controlling flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting with a constriction device at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating with a stimulation device the at least one constricted wall portion of the tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to cause contraction of the at least one constricted wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the gentle constriction and stimulation are co-operated to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, wherein the at least one portion of a tissue wall is part of a series of wall portions of the tissue wall, wherein the gentle constriction is performed by constricting any one wall portion of the series of wall portions of the tissue wall to at least restrict the flow in the intestinal passageway and the stimulation is performed by stimulating the constricted wall portions to close the intestinal passageway, further comprising successively constricting each wall portion of the series of wall portions to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway in a peristaltic manner, further comprising providing at least one constriction element, and at least one stimulation element positioned on the constriction element, moving the constriction element along the intestines to successively constrict each wall portions of the series of wall portions, and using the stimulation element to stimulate each wall portion constricted by the constriction element to close the intestinal passageway, and further comprising cyclically moving the constriction element along each wall portions of the series of wall portions. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62)
-
-
63. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the stimulation is performed by; stimulating electrically with an electrical stimulation device different areas of the at least one constricted wall portion with electric pulses, providing a plurality of electrical elements engaging the at least one constricted wall portion being energized electrically, wherein each electrical element is cyclically energized with the electric pulses, applying the electrical elements on the patient'"'"'s intestines so that the electrical elements form an elongate pattern of electrical elements extending along the at least one wall portion of the intestines in the direction of the flow in the patient'"'"'s intestinal passageway and the elements abut respective areas of the at least one wall portion and wherein the step of energizing comprises, energizing the electrical elements successively along the elongate pattern of electrical elements, wherein the electrical elements are energized so that the electrical elements currently energized form at least one group of adjacent energized electrical elements. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
-
-
86. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the stimulation is performed by; stimulating electrically different areas of the at least one wall portion with electrical pulses, providing a plurality of electrical elements engaging the at least one wall portion being energized electrically, placing the electrical elements in a fixed orientation relative to one another and providing a structure holding the electrical elements in the fixed orientation, wherein the electrical elements form an elongate pattern of electrical elements with two opposite short ends, and applying the structure on the patient'"'"'s intestines so that the elongate pattern of electrical elements extends along the at least one wall portion of the intestines in a direction corresponding to the flow in the patient'"'"'s intestinal passageway and the elements abut respective areas of the at least one wall portion. - View Dependent Claims (87)
-
-
88. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the stimulation is performed by; stimulating electrically different areas of the at least one wall portion with electric pulses, providing a plurality of electrical elements engaging the at least one wall portion being energized electrically, wherein each electrical element is cyclically energized with the electric pulses, applying the electrical elements on the patient'"'"'s intestines so that the electrical elements form an elongate pattern of electrical elements extending along the at least one wall portion of the intestines in a direction corresponding to the flow in the patient'"'"'s intestinal passageway and the elements abut respective areas of the at least one wall portion, the elongate pattern of electrical elements having a first end and a second end, and wherein the step of energizing comprises; energizing the electrical elements successively along the elongate pattern of electrical elements, wherein the electrical elements are successively energized along the elongate pattern of electrical elements from a position substantially at a center of the constricted wall portion towards the first and second ends of the elongate pattern of electrical elements.
-
-
89. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the stimulation is performed by; stimulating electrically different areas of the at least one wall portion with electric pulses, providing a plurality of electrical elements engaging the at least one wall portion being energized with the electric pulses, applying the electrical elements on the patient'"'"'s intestines so that the electrical elements form an elongate pattern of electrical elements extending along the at least one wall portion of the intestines in a direction corresponding to ef the flow in the patient'"'"'s intestinal passageway and the elements abut the respective areas of the at least one wall portion, wherein the electrical elements are applied on the patient'"'"'s intestines in a series of groups of elements extending along the patient'"'"'s intestines in the direction of flow in the patient'"'"'s intestinal passageway, wherein the electrical elements of each group of electrical elements form a path of elements extending at least in part or completely around the patient'"'"'s intestines. - View Dependent Claims (90, 91, 92)
-
-
93. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a series of a tissue wall portions of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the gentle constriction is performed by constricting with a constriction device any wall portions of the series of wall portions of the intestines, wherein each wall portions of the series of wall portions is successively constricted along the intestines to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines or to prevent the intestinal contents to move in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines. - View Dependent Claims (94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102)
-
-
103. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting with a constriction device at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating with a stimulation device the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the gentle constriction is performed by constricting with the constriction device each wall portion of a series of wall portions of the intestines, wherein the stimulation is performed by stimulating each constricted wall portion of the series of wall portions, wherein each wall portions of the series of wall portions is successively constricted with the constriction device along the intestines to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines or to prevent the intestinal contents to move in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines. - View Dependent Claims (104, 105, 106)
-
-
107. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting with a constriction device at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating with a stimulation device the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the gentle constriction is performed by constricting with constriction device each wall portion of a series of wall portions of the intestines, wherein each wall portions of the series of wall portions is constricted with the constriction device without completely closing the intestinal passageway, and the stimulation is performed by stimulating with the stimulation device each constricted wall portions one after the other, so that each wall portions of the series of wall portions are successively contracted along the intestines to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines. - View Dependent Claims (108, 109)
-
-
110. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting with a constriction device at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating with a stimulation device the constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the gentle constriction is performed by constricting a wall portion of a series of wall portions of the intestines, wherein each wall portion is successively constricted along the intestines to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines or to prevent the intestinal contents to move in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines, further comprising constricting the wall portions of the series of wall portions at least two at a time at positions spaced apart on the intestines to move the intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines or to prevent the intestinal contents to move in the intestinal passageway of the patient'"'"'s intestines. - View Dependent Claims (111)
-
-
112. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting with a constriction device at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating with a stimulation device the constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, wherein the gentle constriction is performed by constricting all of the wall portions of a series of wall portions, and the stimulation is performed by stimulating at least two constricted wall portions in random or in accordance with a predetermined sequence to close the intestinal passageway, wherein the wall portions of the series of wall portions are further constricted by the stimulation device in random or in accordance with a predetermined sequence, further comprising constricting the wall portions of the series of wall portions at least two at a time at positions spaced apart on the intestines. - View Dependent Claims (113)
-
-
114. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the at least one wall portion for performing the gentle constriction, and a stimulation device that stimulates the constricted wall portion for performing the stimulation and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, providing an internal energy source, wherein the wireless energy is transmitted from the external energy source located outside the patient and is received by the internal energy source located inside the patient, the internal energy source being connected to at least one of the constriction or stimulation devices for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, the method further comprising the steps of; (i) determining an energy balance between the energy received by the internal energy source and the energy used for at least one of the constriction and stimulation devices, and (ii) controlling the transmission of wireless energy form the external source, based on the determined energy balance, wherein a difference is detected between energy received by the internal energy source and energy used for the constriction device and/or stimulation device, and the transmission of wireless energy is controlled based on said detected energy difference, and wherein the amount of transmitted wireless energy is decreased if the detected energy difference implies that the received energy is greater than the used energy, or vice versa, wherein the decrease or increase of energy transmission corresponds to a magnitude of the detected energy difference. - View Dependent Claims (115, 116)
-
-
117. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the wall portion for performing the gentle constriction, and a stimulation device that stimulates the constricted wall portion for performing the stimulation, and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, providing an internal energy source, wherein the wireless energy is transmitted from the external energy source located outside the patient and is received by the internal energy source located inside the patient, the internal energy source being connected to at least one of the constriction or stimulation devices for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, the method further comprising the steps of; (i) determining an energy balance between the energy received by the internal energy source and the energy used for at least one of the constriction and stimulation devices, and (ii) controlling the transmission of wireless energy form the external source, based on the determined energy balance, wherein the amount of transmitted wireless energy is decreased if the detected energy balance change implies that the energy balance is increasing, or vice versa, wherein the decrease or increase of energy transmission corresponds to a detected change rate. - View Dependent Claims (118, 119)
-
-
120. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the at least one wall portion for performing the step of gently constricting and a stimulation device that stimulates the at least one constricted wall portion for performing the step of stimulating and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, the method further comprising; providing an internal energy source located inside the patient connected to at least one of the constriction and stimulation devices for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, determining an energy balance between the energy sent by the external energy source and the energy received by the internal energy source, controlling the transmission of wireless energy from the external energy source, based on the determined energy balance, detecting a difference between the energy sent by the external energy source and the energy received by the internal energy source, and controlling the transmission of wireless energy based on the detected energy difference. - View Dependent Claims (121)
-
-
122. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the at least one wall portion for performing the gentle constriction, and a stimulation device that stimulates the constricted wall portion for performing the stimulation, and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, the method further comprising providing an internal energy source located inside the patient connected to at least one of the constriction and stimulation devices for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, determining an energy balance between the energy sent by the external energy source and the energy received by the internal energy source, controlling the transmission of wireless energy from the external energy source, based on the determined energy balance, detecting a change in the energy balance, controlling the transmission of wireless energy based on the detected energy balance change, decreasing the amount of transmitted wireless energy if the detected energy balance change implies that the energy balance is increasing, or vice versa, and wherein the decrease/increase of energy transmission corresponds to a detected change rate.
-
-
123. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the at least one wall portion for performing the gentle constriction, and a stimulation device that stimulates the at least one constricted wall portion for performing the stimulation, and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, the method further comprising providing an internal energy source located inside the patient connected to at least one of the constriction and stimulation devices for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, determining an energy balance between the energy sent by the external energy source and the energy received by the internal energy source, controlling the transmission of wireless energy from the external energy source, based on the determined energy balance, wherein the wireless energy is transmitted by means of a primary coil in the external energy source and received inductively by means of a secondary coil in an internal energy source, the internal energy source is connected to a device for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, and wherein feedback control information is transferred from the secondary coil to the primary coil by switching the secondary coil on and off to induce a detectable impedance load variation in the primary coil encoding the feedback control information, and wherein the feedback control information relates to the energy received by the internal energy source and is used for controlling the transmission of wireless energy from the external energy source. - View Dependent Claims (124)
-
-
125. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one constricted wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the at least one wall portion for performing the step of gently constricting, and a stimulation device that stimulates the at least one constricted wall portion for performing the stimulation step and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, providing an internal energy source, wherein the wireless energy is transmitted from the external energy source located outside the patient and is received by the internal energy source located inside the patient, the internal energy source being connected to at least one of the constriction or stimulation devices for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, the method further comprising the steps of; (i) determining an energy balance between the energy received by the internal energy source and the energy used for at least one of the constriction and stimulation devices, and (ii) controlling the transmission of wireless energy form the external source, based on the determined energy balance, wherein the wireless energy is transmitted by means of a primary coil in the external energy source and received inductively by means of a secondary coil in the internal energy source, wherein feedback control information is transferred from the secondary coil to the primary coil by switching the secondary coil on and off to induce a detectable impedance load variation in the primary coil encoding the feedback control information, where the feedback control information relates to the energy balance.
-
-
126. A method for controlling a flow of intestinal contents in an intestinal passageway of a patient'"'"'s intestines, the method comprising:
-
a) gently constricting at least one portion of a tissue wall of the patient'"'"'s intestines to influence the flow of intestinal contents in the intestinal passageway, and b) stimulating the at least one constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the at least one wall portion to further influence the flow in the intestinal passageway, the method further comprising providing, a constriction device that constricts the wall portion for performing the gentle constriction, and a stimulation device that stimulates the constricted wall portion for performing the stimulation, and an external source of energy outside a body of the patient, controlling the external source of energy from outside the patient'"'"'s body to release wireless energy, and using the released wireless energy for operating the constriction device and/or stimulation device, the method further comprising the steps of; transmitting wireless energy from a coil of the external energy source placed externally to the body of the patient, placing an energy receiver internally in the body of the patient, providing an electric circuit connected to the coil, supplying by the coil electrical pulses to transmit the wireless energy, the electrical pulses having leading and trailing edges, varying by the electric circuit first time intervals between successive leading and trailing edges and/or second time intervals between successive trailing and leading edges of the electrical pulses, thus varying the power of the transmitted wireless energy, and receiving by the energy receiver the transmitted wireless energy having a varied power. - View Dependent Claims (127, 128)
-
Specification