Implantable device for occluding a duct in the body of a living being

Claim 1

An implantable device for occluding a duct in the body of a living being, by circumferentially surrounding and radially inwardly compressing the duct, said device comprising: a flexible plate elongated along a longitudinal axis and having two opposite faces, two opposite longitudinal edges, and two opposite transverse ends; a longitudinally elongated elastic bulb member comprising a succession of serially interconnected bulbs which relatively expand in volume upon inflation and contract in volume upon deflation, said bulb member having two opposite ends; a port means communicating with one end of said bulb member for inflating said bulbs and for permitting said bulbs to deflate; said bulb member being mounted on one face of said plate; means defining at least one opening through said plate from one to the other of said faces, adjacent one said end of said plate, each said opening having a first given width; said bulb member having an opposite end from said one end thereof disposed adjacent said at least one opening through said plate; a locking means associated with said bulb member and located adjacent said one end of said bulb member axially beyond where said bulb member is mounted on said one face of said plate, said locking means having a second given width which is broader than said first given width, but being flexible, so that said device can be coiled about an axis which is transverse to said longitudinal axis, so as to juxtapose said ends of said plate with said bulb member surrounding a duct which is to be occluded, and said locking means can be elastically manipulated to force it through said opening, so that said locking means engages against an opposite said face of said plate.