Implantable penile prosthetic pump bulb having concave side walls and convex lobes

Abstract

An implantable penile prosthetic has an inflatable member that is sized for implantation into a penis of a user, a reservoir that is implantable in an abdomen, and a pump that is intraoperatively attached between the inflatable member and the reservoir. The pump includes a pump bulb having an internal cavity formed by a side surface connected between a bottom surface of the pump bulb and a top surface of the pump bulb. The side surface of the pump bulb provides an outside circumference of the pump bulb and includes at least two concave side walls. Each concave side wall is connected between two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An implantable penile prosthetic comprising:
 an inflatable member that is sized for implantation into a penis of a user;
 a reservoir that is implantable in an abdomen, the reservoir is configured to contain liquid useful in inflating the inflatable member; and 
   a pump that is intraoperatively attached between the inflatable member and the reservoir, the pump is sized for implantation into a scrotum and comprises:   a pump bulb having an internal cavity formed by a side surface connected between a bottom surface of the pump bulb and a top surface of the pump bulb, the top surface of the pump bulb includes a conduit that is configured to communicate with one of the inflatable member and the reservoir, the side surface of the pump bulb provides an outside circumference of the pump bulb and includes at least two concave side walls, and each of the at least two concave side walls is connected between two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb.   
     
     
         2 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein a first external width of the pump bulb between the at least two concave side walls is less than a second external width of either of the two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         3 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two concave side walls is concave when viewed in a lateral cross-section taken parallel between the top surface and the bottom surface of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         4 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two concave side walls is concave when viewed in a longitudinal cross-section taken from the top surface to the bottom surface of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         5 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein each of the two adjacent convex lobes is convex in shape when viewed in a lateral cross-section taken parallel between the top surface and the bottom surface of the pump bulb and so configured to reduce sliding of the pump bulb through fingers of the user during pumping. 
     
     
         6 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , comprising two concave side walls, with each of the two concave side walls connected between the two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         7 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , comprising three concave side walls and three convex lobes, with each of the three concave side walls connected between two adjacent lobes of the three convex lobes of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         8 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , comprising four concave side walls and four convex lobes, with each of the four concave side walls connected between two adjacent lobes of the four convex lobes of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         9 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein one of the two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb is spaced apart from an other of the two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb by a spacing in a range from 0.25 to 1 inches to provide a finger-width access recess to the pump bulb. 
     
     
         10 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two concave side walls is substantially planar when viewed in a longitudinal cross-section taken from the top surface through the bottom surface of the pump bulb between the two adjacent convex lobes of the pump bulb. 
     
     
         11 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface of the pump bulb is convex and bulges outward relative to the internal cavity. 
     
     
         12 . The implantable penile prosthetic of  claim 1 , wherein at least an exterior surface of the at least two concave side walls includes a plurality of friction-increasing ribs.