Importance

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Abstract

A catheter has a pressure sensitive bladder at a distal end and a pressure transducer at a proximal end with the proximal end attached to a mammalian body and the bladder inserted within the mammalian body. The bladder partially filled with a gas responds to pressure changes within the body and the pressure transducer senses the changes via gaseous communication with the bladder. In one embodiment, the bladder is inserted in a human brain with the transducer mounted on a bolt affixed to the skull. Initial dissection of the brain tissue is effected by over-inflation of the bladder by a manual piston pump or a blunt ended slender rod. The transducer may be mounted on a bolt inserted within a hole drilled in the skull. An antimicrobial agent may be dispersed from openings in a seal between the bolt and the skull, from a porous seal, or from a ribbed or threaded outer surface of the bolt. In one embodiment, the catheter is inserted through an inner opening in the bolt and a drain may also be inserted through the bolt. In another embodiment, the pressure transducer is attached to the neck or shoulder area of a patient and a flexible catheter connects the transducer to a bladder inserted in the brain of a patient. The flexible catheter runs under a patch of skin on the skull and into a hole drilled through the skull to prevent bacteria entering the brain. The transducer may be attached anywhere on the body adjacent to an opening into the body wherein the bladder is inserted in the opening and communicates with the transducer through a short flexible catheter.

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First Claim