What is claimed is:
1. A system for placing an implant in the body, comprising:
an elongated member having a proximal end portion, a distal end portion, at least one opening in the distal end portion, and at least one inner lumen extending from the proximal end portion to the opening in the distal end portion;
at least one compressible implant in the inner lumen of the elongated member, the implant being configured to be implanted in body tissue to bulk the tissue; and
means for pushing the implant through the opening in the distal end portion of the elongated member.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the pushing means comprises a pushing member movable in the inner lumen of the elongated member.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the pushing means comprises a source of fluid in fluid communication with the inner lumen, the source of fluid pressurizing the inner lumen to force the implant through the opening in the distal end portion of the elongated member.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the elongated member is a needle having a distal end configured to pierce through tissue.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the member comprises a first inner lumen and a second inner lumen, the implant being in the first inner lumen and the second inner lumen being in fluid communication with a source of fluid, fluid flowing through the second inner lumen being capable of separating layers of body tissue.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first inner lumen and the second inner lumen each extend from the proximal portion to a respective opening in a distal end of the elongated member.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the implants are in the inner lumen.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the implant is formed of material including at least one of the group consisting of open cell foam and closed cell foam.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the implant includes a hollow cavity and wherein the implant is formed of an elastomeric material.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the implant is expandable from a compressed configuration to an expanded configuration, the implant being in the compressed configuration when the implant is in the inner lumen and the implant expanding to the expanded configuration when the implant passes through the opening in the distal end portion of the elongated member.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the implant includes means for limiting migration of the implant in the body.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the migration limiting means comprises anchor members extending from the outer surface of the implant.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the anchor members are configured to interconnect with anchor members on another implant implanted in the body.
14. The system of claim 1 1, wherein the migration limiting means comprises a coating on the outer surface of the implant for limiting sliding of the implant in the body.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the migration limiting means comprises at least one of the group consisting of ridges and grooves formed on the outer surface of the implant.
16. The system of claim 1, wherein the implant comprises radiopaque material.
17. A method of bulking tissue using an elongated member and at least one compressible implant in an inner lumen of the elongated member, comprising:
introducing the elongated member in the body;
positioning a distal end portion of the elongated member between layers of body tissue; and
applying a pushing force to the implant to move the implant through an opening in the distal end portion and between the layers of body tissue.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the applying of the pushing force includes moving a pushing member in the inner lumen toward the distal end portion to push the implant through the opening.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising retracting the elongated member while the pushing force is applied to the implant.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the applying of the pushing force includes pressurizing the inner lumen to force the implant through the opening.
21. The method of claim 17, further comprising piercing the body tissue with a distal end of the elongated member.
22. The method of claim 17, further comprising placing fluid between the layers of body tissue to separate the layers of body tissue.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the placing of fluid includes flowing the fluid from the elongated member into an area between the layers of body tissue.
24. The method of claim 22, wherein the placing of fluid includes flowing the fluid from a needle into an area between the layers of body tissue.
25. The method of claim 17, wherein the implant is expandable from a compressed configuration to an expanded configuration, and wherein the method further comprises allowing the implant to expand to the expanded configuration when the implant passes through the opening in the elongated member.
26. The method of claim 17, wherein a plurality of compressible implants are in the inner lumen of the elongated member, and wherein the method further comprises placing more than one of the compressible implants between the layers of tissue.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the implants include anchor members capable of interconnecting with one another, and wherein the method further comprises interconnecting at least one of the anchor members on one of the implants with at least one of the anchor members on another of the implants to limit migration of the implants in the body.
28. The method of claim 17, wherein the implant is placed between layers of body tissue at or near the gastro-esophageal junction to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein the implant is elongated and has a longitudinal axis, and wherein the method further comprises positioning the implant between the tissue layers so that the longitudinal axis of the implant is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the esophagus.
30. The method of claim 28, wherein the implant is elongated and has a longitudinal axis, and wherein the method further comprises positioning the implant between the tissue layers so that the longitudinal axis of the implant is in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the esophagus.
31. The method of claim 28, further comprising placing the implant between a mucosa layer and an outer surface of a muscularis layer located at or near the gastro-esophageal junction.
32. The method of claim 28, wherein the introducing of the elongated member comprises passing the elongated member transorally through the esophagus.
33. The method of claim 17, wherein the implant is placed between layers of tissue along the urinary tract to treat urinary incontinence.
34. An implant configured to be implanted in the body to bulk tissue, the implant comprising compressible material allowing the implant to expand from a compressed configuration to an expanded configuration, the implant further comprising a plurality of anchor members extending from the outer surface of the implant, the anchor members being configured to interconnect with anchor members on another implant implanted in the body.
35. The implant of claim 34, wherein the implant is formed of material including at least one of the group consisting of open cell foam and closed cell foam.
36. The implant of claim 34, further comprising a coating on the outer surface of the implant for limiting sliding of the implant in the body.
37. The implant of claim 34, wherein the implant comprises radiopaque material.
38. The implant of claim 34, wherein the implant comprises longitudinal grooves and ridges.
39. The implant of claim 34, wherein the implant comprises transverse grooves and ridges.
40. The implant of claim 34, wherein the implant has a shape consisting of one of: a substantially cylindrical shape and a substantially spherical shape.
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 seed of soybean variety A1023486, wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358.
2. A plant of soybean variety A1023486, wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358.
3. A plant part of the plant of claim 2.
4. The plant part of claim 3, further defined as a protoplast, ovule, cell, pollen grain, embryo, cotyledon, hypocotyl, meristem, root, pistil, anther, flower, stem, pod or petiole.
5. A tissue culture of regenerable cells of the plant of claim 2.
6. A soybean plant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 5, wherein the regenerated soybean plant expresses all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the soybean variety A1023486, wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358.
7. A method of producing soybean seed, comprising crossing the plant of claim 2 with itself or a second soybean plant.
8. A hybrid seed produced by crossing the plant of claim 2 with a second, distinct soybean plant.
9. A hybrid plant grown from the seed of claim 8.
10. A method of producing a plant of soybean variety A1023486 comprising an added desired trait, the method comprising introducing a transgene conferring the desired trait into a plant of soybean variety A1023486, wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the desired trait is selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fatty acid metabolism, abiotic stress resistance, altered seed amino acid composition, site-specific genetic recombination, and modified carbohydrate metabolism.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the desired trait is herbicide tolerance and the tolerance is conferred to an herbicide selected from the group consisting of glyphosate, sulfonylurea, imidazalinone, dicamba, glufosinate, phenoxy proprionic acid, cycloshexone, triazine, benzonitrile, PPO-inhibitor herbicides and broxynil.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the desired trait is insect resistance and the transgene encodes a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxin.
14. A plant produced by the method of claim 10.
15. A seed that produces the plant of claim 14.
16. A method of introducing a single locus conversion into soybean variety A1023486 comprising:
(a) crossing a plant of variety A1023486 with a second plant comprising a desired single locus to produce F1 progeny plants, wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358;
(b) selecting F1 progeny plants that have the single locus to produce selected F1 progeny plants;
(c) crossing the selected progeny plants with at least a first plant of variety A1023486 to produce backcross progeny plants;
(d) selecting at least a first backcross progeny plant that has the single locus to produce selected backcross progeny plants; and
(e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more times in succession until said single locus conversion is introduced into soybean variety A1023486.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the single locus confers a trait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fatty acid metabolism, abiotic stress resistance, altered seed amino acid composition, site-specific genetic recombination, and modified carbohydrate metabolism.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the trait is tolerance to an herbicide selected from the group consisting of glyphosate, sulfonylurea, imidazalinone, dicamba, glufosinate, phenoxy proprionic acid, cycloshexone, triazine, benzonitrile, PPO-inhibitor herbicides and broxynil.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the trait is insect resistance and the insect resistance is conferred by a transgene encoding a Bacillus thuringiensis endotoxin.
20. A plant produced by introducing a single locus conversion into soybean variety A1023486, wherein the single locus was introduced into soybean variety A1023486 by backcrossing or genetic transformation and wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358.
21. A method of producing a progeny plant derived from the soybean variety A1023486, the method comprising crossing a plant of the soybean variety A1023486 with a soybean plant of a second variety to produce at least a first progeny plant, wherein a sample of seed of soybean variety A1023486 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-13358.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of
(a) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation;
(b) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or a second plant; and
(c) repeating steps (b) and (c) at least once to produce a soybean plant further derived from the soybean variety A1023486.
23. The method of claim 22, comprising crossing said soybean plant further derived from the soybean variety A1023486 with a soybean plant of a different genotype to produce seed of a hybrid plant derived from the soybean variety A1023486.
24. A method of producing a commodity plant product comprising obtaining the plant of claim 1 or a part thereof and producing said commodity plant product therefrom.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the commodity plant product is protein concentrate, protein isolate, grain, soybean hulls, meal, flour or oil.
26. A soybean commodity plant product produced by the method of claim 24, wherein the commodity plant product comprises at least a first cell of soybean variety A1023486.