Surgery – Truss – Perineal
Patent
1980-04-01
1988-01-12
Truluck, Dalton L.
Surgery
Truss
Perineal
A61F 500
Patent
active
047184108
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to surgical implants and, more particularly, to penile implants for assisting disabled men to have satisfactory sexual intercourse and achieve fertilisation of the women's ova.
In order successfully to achieve fertilisation, it is necessary for the man's penis to be erect so as to penetrate as deeply as possible into the woman's vagina. Many disabled men, such as spastics, paraplegics and those suffering from chronic leukemia, whilst capable of producing semen for the reproductive process are not capable of having an erection and, therefore, cannot satisfactorily penetrate the woman's genital canal to fertilise the ova and initiate such reproduction. This disability can be rectified by means of surgical implants. For example, in one implant procedure two inflatable members are implanted respectively in the corpora cavernosa of the penis and a reservoir containing liquid for inflating the two members is implanted in the abdomen. The members are inflated, when desired, in order to erect the penis, by means of two flexible bulbs which are implanted in the scrotum and are arranged to pump liquid from the reservoir into the members. Each of these bulbs is connected to the reservoir and its associated inflatable member by two tubes and four valves in order to pump liquid from the reservoir into the member, when required, and subsequently to return it to the reservoir after intercourse. Such an implant is complex and expensive and involves a difficult surgical operation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable penile implant which is much simpler than the hitherto known device and is also simpler to implant in a patient.
To this end, the invention consists in penile implant comprising a flexible rod-like body made from synthetic material and having an inflatable chamber therein, a flexible tail-like portion projecting from the proximal end of the body, a flexible bulb for containing fluid for pressurising the chamber connected to the chamber by a flexible tube, and a non-return valve arranged to prevent fluid discharged from the bulb into the chamber from returning to the bulb, said valve having a deformable housing whereby the valve can be manually distorted so as to permit the fluid to return from the chamber to the bulb.
Two implants according to the invention are used for each patient. One of the rod-like bodies is inserted into each corpora cavernosa of the penis with the tail-like portion projecting towards the base or root of the penis. This tail-like portion improves the support for the body and its affect, upon inflation of the fluid chamber. The body is inserted into the penis through a small incision made in the underside. The associated bulb is implanted in the dartos pouch of the scrotum and the tube connecting the bulb to the fluid chamber in the rod-like body is also suitably implanted in the patient's body so that there is no visible evidence of the implant. When the patient requires to use his implants, it is a simple matter for him to squeeze the bulbs so as to inflate and pressurise or stiffen the chambers in the rodlike bodies and erect the penis. When sexual activity is finished, it is also a simple matter for the patient to locate and deform the valve housings so as to allow the chambers to be depressurised and permit the penis to return to normal.
The fluid for inflating and pressurising the chamber in the rod-like body is charged into the chamber, tube and bulb at atmospheric pressure and may be a gas or liquid. If a liquid is utilised, this should preferably be decanted to render it gas free before it is charged into the implant.
In one embodiment, the inflatable chamber is an elongated, generally cylindrical chamber and is disposed adjacent the proximal end of the rod-like body. Reinforcing means, such as a net or mesh is embedded in the body about the chamber so as substantially to prevent the body from expanding when the chamber is pressurised in order to stiffen the implant. A reinforcing member may be embedded in the rod-like bo
REFERENCES:
patent: 3853122 (1974-12-01), Strauch et al.
patent: 3895637 (1975-07-01), Choy
patent: 3954102 (1976-05-01), Buuck
patent: 4009711 (1977-03-01), Uson
patent: 4018230 (1977-04-01), Ochiai et al.
patent: 4267829 (1981-05-01), Burton et al.
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