Implantable artificial urethral valve

Claim 1

In an artificial urethral valve for implantation in the lower urinary tract of an incontinent person for the purpose of allowing the incontinent person to regain voluntary control over the evacuation of bladder contents, said valve comprising a body of a size for wholly implanting and blocking the lower urinary tract of the incontinent person and having a tunnel which extends therethrough for the passage of bladder contents through said valve body wherein the internal diameter of a first downstream portion of the inlet section of said tunnel is of a lesser diameter than an adjacent second downstream section of said tunnel, the downstream face of said lesser diameter portion being located in a plane generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of said tunnel and serving as a valve seat for an occluding member of said valve tunnel, which occluding member resides within the second section of the tunnel downstream of said valve seat, said occluding member being held in the occluding position against said valve seat by the resilience of a spring means, said spring means having a first greater resiliency to movement to a predetermined position away from said seat and thereafter substantially collapses to a condition of lesser resiliency under a force exerted upon the bladder contents sufficient to initiate urination whereupon said occluding member is held away from said occluding position by the force of the outflow of bladder contents from the bladder through said valve body until said outflow of said bladder contents has substantially ceased whereupon the residual resilience of said spring is sufficient to return said occluding member to said occluding position.