Patent ID: 8078280

Claim:
An implantable electrical connector having a longitudinal axis and an inner longitudinal aperture therethrough, the connector comprising: a body including a first flange and a second flange, each of the first and second flanges having an outer edge and at least one region disposed substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis and having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein each of the first and second flanges are formed from the same sheet of material as an electrically conductive and radially flexible inner circumferential wall portion having an inner facing convex surface and an outer facing concave surface and constructed of flexible material disposed about the inner longitudinal aperture and including a plurality of ribs having first ends and second ends and separated by inter-rib spaces and supported and connected to each other at the first ends by the first flange and at the second ends by the second flange, and wherein the inner facing convex surface curves radially outward to form the outer surfaces of the first and second flanges and the outer facing concave surface curves radially outward to form the inner surfaces of the first and second flanges; and an elastic member disposed around the entire flexible inner circumferential wall portion.