Patent ID: 7988614

Claim:
An organ assist system comprising, in a closed system of recirculating fluid: a ring-shaped prosthetic that contactively surrounds at least a portion of a body part, including a plurality of bladders adapted for selectable dilation and contraction in response to a varying fluid pressure therewithin; a fluid pump in fluid communication with said prosthetic and in series connection therewith; at least one array comprised of a plurality of pressure cells; conduits connecting said bladders in said prosthetic, pump and plurality of pressure cells; a control unit of a control system for controlling operation of at least said fluid pump; a plurality of pressure sensors within said closed hydraulic system, said pressure sensors in fluid communication with said prosthetic and operative to monitor fluid pressure in said system; a power source in transcutaneous electrical communication with said control unit; and a plurality of shut off valves, one of said valves positioned in one of said conduits leading away from said prosthetic and leading to said pump and operative for closing said conduit, and a second said valve positioned in a bypass conduit and operative to enable said pump to be bypassed thereby, wherein each of said pressure cells comprises a cage of a substantially rigid biocompatible material divided into an inner chamber and an outer chamber by a flexible elastic wall, said outer chamber being a sealed chamber bounded by said cage and said flexible elastic wall and being filled with a low-density gas, and said inner chamber being defined by said flexible elastic wall, having an inlet and an outlet that are closable by fast action shut-off valves and being filled with a liquid, the maximum pressure of each pressure cell being defined by the pressure in said sealed outer chamber; and wherein one of said at least one arrays comprises of a plurality of pressure cells positioned upstream of said prosthetic, each pressure cell having controlled fast action shut-off valve at said inlet thereinto, and a second controlled fast action shut-off valve at said exit therefrom, said controlled fast action shut-off valves being controlled by said control unit of said control system such that said plurality of pressure cells may provide a range of pressurizations to said bladders of said prosthetic for applying a controlled variable pressurizing effect to the body part thereby.