Artificial heart valve Artificial heart valve An artificial heart valve is a device implanted in the heart of a patient with valvular heart disease. When one of the four heart valves malfunctions, the medical choice may be to replace the natural valve with an artificial valve. This requires open-heart surgery. Valves are integral to the normal physiological functioning of the human heart. Natural heart valves are evolved to forms that perform the functional requirement of inducing unidirectional blood flow through the valve structure from one chamber of the heart to another. Natural heart valves become dysfunctional for a variety of pathological causes. Some
Artificial urinary sphincter Artificial urinary sphincter An artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) is an implanted device to treat moderate to severe stress urinary incontinence, most commonly in men. The AUS is designed to supplement the function of the natural urinary sphincter that restricts urine flow out of the bladder. Although models vary, the common thread among currently available designs is a mechanical constriction mechanism placed around the urethra, and an externally accessible control mechanism allowing the user to relieve the constriction to allow urination. Artificial urinary sphincter surgeries have been performed since being first introduced in the early 1970s. The most commonly used device