Stimulation of penis erection

1. A penis erection stimulation system, comprising

at least one implantable infusion needle disposed at least partly within at least one implantable housing with a tip end of the at least one implantable infusion needle arranged for penetrating an outer wall of the at least one housing in at least one penetration area being one of the right and left corpus cavernosum, the two deep arteries of the right and left corpus cavernosum and muscle tissue regulating blood flow through the right and left corpus cavernosum, the at least one implantable housing being adapted for implantation inside the patient's body,

at least one reservoir adapted for implantation inside the patient's body in fluid connection with the at least one infusion needle, when the infusion needle is implanted, to supply to the infusion needle a substance to be injected into the patient's body,

at least one pump adapted for implantation inside the patient's body to advance the substance from the reservoir to the at least one implantable infusion needle, and

at least one drive unit adapted for implantation inside the patient's body, the at least one drive unit being coupled to the at least one implantable infusion needle, when implanted, and arranged at least for advancing and retracting the tip end of the at least one implantable infusion needle so that the at least one implantable infusion needle penetrates, upon advancement of the tip end thereof, said at least one penetration area so as to allow for stimulation of penis erection by injecting the substance through said at least one penetration area via the at least one implantable infusion needle, wherein the implantable housing's outer wall comprises at least one door in the at least one penetration area and wherein the drive unit is connected to the at least one door for actively opening the door so as to allow for the at least one infusion needle to be advanced through the opened door from the inside of the housing.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the drive connected to the door forms part of the drive unit coupled to the infusion needle.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the door comprises a normally closed, resilient flap.

4. The system of claim 1 , comprising at least one spring element urging the door into its closed position.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one infusion needle is arranged for penetrating the at least one first housing's outer wall in at least two different penetration areas, or wherein the drive unit is configured to laterally displace the tip end of at least one of said at least one infusion needle in at least one different lateral direction to different penetration sites within the at least one penetration area.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the system is adapted such that the at least one infusion needle penetrates said at least two different penetration areas upon a single command or single action from the patient.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one drive unit is adapted for advancing and retracting the tip end of the at least one infusion needle in such way that it penetrates, upon advancement of the tip end or ends thereof, said at least two different penetration areas either simultaneously or in immediate time succession.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the system is adapted such that the time delay between the penetration of a first and a second of said at least two different penetration areas does not exceed 120 seconds, and preferably does not exceed 60 seconds.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the system is adapted such that once the at least one infusion needle has been retracted from a first of the at least two different penetration areas, advancement of the at least one infusion needle to a second of the at least two different penetration areas is initiated.

10. The system of claim 5 , wherein at least one infusion needle is provided for each of at least two different penetration areas.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein two or more infusion needles are provided for each of said two different penetration areas and are arranged for penetrating different penetration sites within each of said two different penetration areas.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the drive unit is configured to advance and retract one infusion needle in each of said two different penetration areas at one time, and to advance and retract a different infusion needle in each of said two different penetration areas at a different time.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least two infusion needles are contained in a common one of said at least one housing in spaced apart relationship, the drive unit being configured to advance and retract the tip ends of the infusion needles so as to penetrate the outer wall of the common housing in said at least two different penetration areas.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one infusion needle is flexibly bendable, wherein the tip end of each of the at least one infusion needle is arranged for penetrating the outer wall of a first housing and the other end thereof is arranged in a second housing for remote implantation inside the patient's body, the injection needle being sufficiently long to bridge the distance from the second housing for remote implantation to the first housing and further through the first housing up to the outer wall of the first housing.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein at least a part of the drive unit for advancing and retracting the tip end of the at least one infusion needle is contained in the second housing.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the drive unit for advancing and retracting the infusion needle comprises a screw drive connection.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the screw drive connection comprises a threading on the infusion needle engaging a fixedly mounted rack.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the infusion needle is guided in a sheath between the first and second housings.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reservoir comprises at least one first compartment accommodating or adapted to accommodate a first substance, or at least one first compartment accommodating or adapted to accommodate a first substance and at least one second compartment accommodating or adapted to accommodate a second substance.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one drive unit comprises at least one of:

a hydraulic drive for transmitting hydraulic energy from a remote location within the patient's body to the at least one infusion needle for advancing the tip end of the infusion needle, the hydraulic fluid of the hydraulic drive being guided through the conduit connecting the at least one infusion needle with the at least one reservoir, the system being adapted to at least one of:

use as the hydraulic fluid the infusion liquid to be injected into the patient's body, and

use as the hydraulic fluid a secondary liquid different from an infusion liquid to be injected into the patient's body, and

a mechanical drive element for transmitting kinetic energy from a remote location within the patient's body to the at least one infusion needle, the mechanical drive element comprising at least one of:

at least one wire directly or indirectly cooperating with the infusion needle so as to cause movement of the needle upon actuation of the wire, and

at least one rotating shaft directly or indirectly cooperating with the infusion needle so as to cause movement of the infusion needle upon rotation of the rotating shaft, and

at least one motor for actuating at least one of: the pump, the drive unit, and any other implantable energy consuming part of the system, the at least one motor being adapted for remote implantation within the patient's body separate from the housing within which the tip end of the infusion needle is contained.

21. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an energy source (E) for providing energy to at least one of the pump, the drive unit and the motor, and any other energy consuming part of the system,

coupling elements (T) for wireless energy transfer from outside of the patient's body to the energy storage means for charging the energy storage means from outside the patient's body, when the energy storage means is implanted in a patient's body,

at least one feedback sensor (F) adapted to sense one or more physical parameters of the patient and/or process parameters of the system,

a feedback subsystem adapted:

to wirelessly send feedback information relating to the energy to be stored in the energy storage means from inside the patient to the outside thereof, the system being adapted to use the feedback information for adjusting the amount of wireless energy transmitted by the energy transmitter, and

to provide feedback on parameters relevant for the treatment, including the one or more physical parameters of the patient and/or the process parameters of the system, or to wirelessly send the feedback information relating to the stored energy and the feedback on treatment parameters.

22. The system of claim 1 further comprising;

an implantable and programmable internal control unit,

a data transfer port for data transfer between an external data processing device and the internal control unit, the data transfer port being a wireless data transfer port for the data transfer, and

an external control unit comprising a wireless remote control to control from outside the patient's body the internal control unit, the external control unit being adapted for at least one of:

manual operation by the patient for setting into operation the internal control unit, and

programming the internal control unit.

23. The system of claim 1 further comprising a reservoir with at least one compartment, the reservoir is further, at least one of:

comprising an injection port for refilling the reservoir with infusion liquid, and

adapted to cause a negative pressure in at least one compartment of the reservoir, when drawing infusion liquid from at least one compartment of the reservoir.

24. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a reservoir with at least one compartment, wherein the reservoir is further comprising at least one of:

a cooling device for keeping the content within at least one compartment of the reservoir at a temperature below 37° C., and

a gas chamber and an infusion liquid chamber, said chambers being separated by a flexible membrane.

25. The system of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is configured to laterally displace the tip end of at least one of said at least one infusion needle in at least two different lateral directions, adapted to displace the infusion needle in at least: a first lateral direction and back, and a second lateral direction and back, the second direction being different from the first direction, and the drive unit further comprising:

a single, multifunctional drive unit, or

a drive unit including a plurality of different drive units arranged to work in a coordinated fashion, and

wherein the drive unit is adapted to displace the infusion needle in the at least two different lateral directions.