1. An auditory ossicle prosthesis designed for replacing or bridging at least one element in the human auditory ossicle chain with a sound transmitting prosthesis body which at one end has a first coupling element designed as a head plate for mechanical connection of the prosthesis to the tympanic membrane and which at the other end has a second coupling element either designed for mechanical connection of the prosthesis to a second element of the human auditory ossicle chain, in particular to the stapes footplate, or for being inserted directly into the inner ear, whereby a stabiliser element is provided which is designed for fixation of the auditory ossicle prosthesis in its implanted state on a level with the plane of the tympanic membrane and for stabilising the position of the implanted auditory ossicle prosthesis in the middle ear, whereby the stabiliser element is adapted for permanent and stable securing at a section of the prosthesis body adjacent to the first coupling element and comprises a fixation part for anchoring the stabiliser element at one or more places of the ear canal wall
characterised in that
the stabiliser element is Y-shaped, whereby the fixation part comprises two hooked anchoring elements adapted for securing the fixation part in artificially drilled holes in the ear canal wall starting from a common bifurcation point at the body of the stabiliser element and branching towards their hooked free ends at an angle with respect to each other.
2. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the first coupling element is designed as a clip-like, umbrella-like or U-shaped part for mechanically coupling the prosthesis to a first element of the human auditory ossicle chain, in particular to the manubrium.
3. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the second coupling element is designed for mechanical connection of the prosthesis to the stapes head or as a piston for being inserted directly into the inner ear.
4. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the stabiliser element is adapted for permanent and stable securing at the first coupling element.
5. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the stabiliser element is completely or partly made of titanium.
6. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the stabiliser element is completely or partly made of a material with memory effect, in particular of Nitinol.
7. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the prosthesis is assembled from different modular components.
8. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the stabiliser element comprises at least one predetermined breaking point or a portion of a material thickness less than the material thickness of the prosthesis body.
9. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the stabiliser element comprises a clipping element for securing the stabiliser element at the first coupling element or at a section of the prosthesis body adjacent to the first coupling element.
10. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the stabiliser element comprises an elongated part functionally replacing the natural malleus handle.
11. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 10, characterised in that the elongated part is shaped as a piston.
12. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 10, characterised in that the auditory ossicle prosthesis comprises a receiving section designed for supporting the stabiliser element in the implanted state of the auditory ossicle prosthesis.
13. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 12, characterised in that the receiving section comprises a hook shaped portion provided at the first coupling element.
14. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixation part comprises more hooked anchoring elements adapted for securing the fixation part in artificially drilled holes in the ear canal wall.
15. Auditory ossicle prosthesis according to claim 1, characterised in that the hooked anchoring elements comprise reinforced free end portions.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A spinning cold plasma apparatus, comprising:
a vortex tube having a vortex reaction chamber, an inner wall, and a generated plasma, wherein the vortex tube having a cold gas outlet formed at a first end of the vortex tube and a hot gas outlet formed at a second end of the vortex tube, and the vortex tube having at least one gas inlet opening formed in the vortex tube for directing pressurized gas tangentially to the inner wall into the vortex reaction chamber;
a valve positioned at least partially within the cold gas outlet to regulate the flow of cold plasma from the vortex reaction chamber; and
an ionizing device for transmitting electromagnetic energy into the vortex reaction chamber to ionize pressurized gas therein, wherein the ionizing device is a source selected from the group consisting of a RF source, and a microwave source capable of forming plasma in the central region of the reaction chamber of said vortex tube.
2. The spinning cold plasma apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RF source comprises a tunable inductive coupler adapted to focus electromagnetic energy on a longitudinal central column region of the vortex reaction chamber.
3. The spinning cold plasma apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vortex tube comprises a plurality of gas inlet openings.
4. The spinning cold plasma apparatus of claim 3, comprising at least one source of pressurized gas in fluid communication with the plurality of gas inlet passages.
5. The spinning cold plasma apparatus of claim 1, comprising a collar extending from the cold gas outlet.
6. The spinning cold plasma apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vortex tube comprises a reverse-flow vortex tube.
7. A method of producing a spinning cold plasma, comprising:
directing a pressurized gas into a vortex chamber of a vortex tube to induce a rotational flow of higher-density pressurized gas along an inner wall of the chamber and a lower-density pressurized gas at the longitudinal center column of the reaction chamber of the vortex tube;
ionizing the lower-density pressurized gas;
generating spinning cold plasma in the central region of the reaction chamber of said vortex tube.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:
transmitting electromagnetic energy into the chamber.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:
focusing the electromagnetic energy on the longitudinal center column of lower-density pressurized gas.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the electromagnetic energy is transmitted from an RF source.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the electromagnetic energy is transmitted from a microwave source.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein the pressurized gas is selected from the group consisting of Argon, natural air, CO2, NF3, CF4, SF6, a Nitrogen-based gas, and mixtures thereof.
13. A method of disinfecting a surface, comprising applying the spinning cold plasma produced by the method of claim 7 to the surface of interest.
14. A method of increasing the wettability of a substrate, comprising
(a) directing a pressurized gas into a vortex chamber to induce a rotational flow of higher-density pressurized gas along an inner wall of the chamber and a lower-density pressurized gas at the longitudinal center of the reaction chamber of:
(b) transmitting electromagnetic energy into the chamber;
(c) focusing the electromagnetic energy on the longitudinal center reaction column of lower-density pressurized gas, wherein the electromagnetic energy is transmitted from an RF source or a microwave source or a combination thereof;
(d) ionizing the lower-density pressurized gas to produce the spinning cold plasma at the center region of the reaction chamber of the vortex tube; and
(e) applying the spinning cold plasma to the substrate.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein only a single ionizing device is employed to generate the plasma.
16. The method of claim 7, wherein only a single ionizing device is employed to generate the plasma.