1. An apparatus for securing an anchor to adjacent body cavities in the gastrointestinal tract comprising:
a needle with proximal and distal end portions, the needle including a hollow needle body and a detachable needle tip having a sharpened end;
a stylet positioned coaxially inside the hollow needle body, wherein the stylet includes a lumen;
a connecting element coupled to the detachable needle tip at one end, wherein the needle is configured to be inserted through a wall of a first body cavity and through a wall of a second body cavity and the stylet is advanceable to separate the needle tip from the hollow needle body so that the needle is configured to be withdrawn to leave behind a portion of the connecting element and the needle tip in the second body cavity;
an anchoring element having proximal and distal end portions, the distal end portion of the anchoring element attached to the proximal end of the connecting element, the anchoring element capable of being pulled through the first and second body cavity walls by the connecting element, the distal end portion of the anchoring element coupled to the proximal end portion of the anchoring element to form a loop; and
a dilating element positioned between the proximal end of the connecting element and the distal end of the anchoring element, the dilating element sized to dilate a tissue tunnel so that the anchoring element is configured to be drawn through the tunnel by the connecting element.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first body cavity is the esophagus and the second body cavity is the stomach.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first body cavity is the antrum pyloricum of the stomach and the second body cavity is the duodenum.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first body cavity is a first portion of an intestine and the second body cavity is second portion of the intestine.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchoring element comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of a suture, tie, thread, band, cord, web, strap, belt, elongated piece of mesh, wire, and a biocompatible patch.
6. The anchoring element of claim 5 wherein the anchoring element comprises a suture.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchoring element is initially folded or coiled before deployment and the anchoring element assumes an unfolded or uncoiled configuration after deployment.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchoring element is coated with a coating.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a securement element, said securement element coupling the proximal and distal ends of the anchoring element together.
10. The anchoring element of claim 1 further comprising an anchoring portion configured to facilitate the attachment of additional devices.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the connecting element comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of a suture, thread, plastic filament or wire.
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. An explosive composition comprising RDX Type I, a polyacrylic elastomer and a plasticizer, characterised in that the RDX crystals represent a proportion in the range 88-96% by weight of the composition, and that the RDX crystals comprises a portion of coarse crystals with an average crystal size in the range 50 to 250 \u03bcm and a portion of finer crystals with average crystal size in the range 2 to 30 \u03bcm.
2. An explosive composition comprising RDX Type I and HMX, a polyacrylic elastomer and a plasticizer, characterised in that the explosive crystals represent a proportion in the range 88-96% by weight of the total composition, that the RDX crystals comprises a portion of coarse crystals with an average crystal size in the range 50 to 250 \u03bcm and a portion of finer crystals with average crystal size in the range 2 to 30 \u03bcm, and that the HMX crystals represent a proportion in the range from 5 to 20% by weight of the explosive crystals in the composition.
3. An explosive composition according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the explosive crystals represent from 90 to 94% by weight and preferably from 91 to 93% by weight of the composition.
4. An explosive composition according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the coarse portion of the RDX crystals comprises crystals with an average size in the range 60 to 170 \u03bcm, preferably in the range 60-90 \u03bcm, and that the fine portion of the RDX crystals has an average size in the range 5-20 \u03bcm, preferably 12-18 \u03bcm.
5. An explosive composition according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the coarse portion of the RDX crystals represents from 25 to 75% by weight, preferably from 35 to 65% by weight and more preferably from 44 to 56% by weight.
6. An explosive composition according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the polyacrylic elastomer is Hy Temp 4454 or Hy Temp 4054, and that the plasticizer is dioctyl adipate (DOA), dioctyl sebacate (DOS), isodecyl pelargonate (IDP), dioctyl maleate (DOM) or dioctyl phthalate (DOP).
7. An explosive composition according to claim 2, characterised in that the portion of HMX crystals represents from 5 to 20% by weight, preferably from 5 to 15% by weight and more preferably from 9 to 11% by weight of the total quantity of explosive crystals in the composition.
8. An explosive composition according to claim 2, characterised in that the HMX crystals have an average size in the range from 2 to 30 \u03bcm, preferably from 5 to 20 \u03bcm and more preferably from 8 to 14 \u03bcm.
9. An explosive composition produced in a water-slurry process, characterised in that it comprising 88-96% of a coarse-grained and fine-grained RDX Type I and a binder system consisting of a polyacrylic elastomer and a plasticizer, and where RDX is present in a proportion of relatively coarse-grained and a proportion of fine-grained crystals.
10. An explosive composition produced in a water-slurry process, characterised in that it consists of 88-96% of explosive crystals and a binder system comprising a polyacrylic elastomer and a plasticizer, where the explosive crystals are a mixture of RDX crystals of Type I and HMX crystals, and where RDX is present in a proportion of relatively coarse-grained and a proportion of fine-grained crystals.
11. An explosive composition according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the proportion of explosive crystals represents from 90 to 94% by weight and preferably from 91 to 93% by weight of the total composition.
12. An explosive composition according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the coarse portion of the RDX crystals comprising crystals with an average size in the range 60 to 170 \u03bcm, preferably in the range 60-90 \u03bcm, and that the fine portion of the RDX crystals has an average size in the range 5-20 \u03bcm, preferably 12-18 \u03bcm.
13. An explosive composition according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the coarse portion of the RDX crystals represents from 25 to 75% by weight, preferably from 35 to 65% by weight and more preferably from 44 to 56% by weight.
14. An explosive composition according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the polyacrylic elastomer is Hy Temp 4454 or Hy Temp 4054, and that the plasticizer is dioctyl adipate (DOA), dioctyl sebacate (DOS), isodecyl pelargonate (IDP), dioctyl maleate (DOM) or dioctyl phthalate (DOP).
15. An explosive composition according to claim 11, characterised in that the proportion of HMX crystals represents from 5 to 20% by weight, preferably from 5 to 15% by weight and more preferably from 9 to 11% by weight of the total quantity of explosive crystals in the composition.
16. An explosive composition according to claim 11, characterised in that the HMX crystals have an average size in the range from 2 to 30 \u03bcm, preferably from 5 to 20 \u03bcm and more preferably from 8 to 14 \u03bcm.