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AssigneeCardinal Health Switzerland 515 GmbH
InventorsRyan Donovan, John F. Shanley, Prasanna Muralidharan, David W. Overaker, Ramesh Marrey, Robert Burgermeister
Estimating the term…
The present invention relates to tissue-supporting medical devices and drug delivery systems, and more particularly to tubular flexible stents that are implanted within a body lumen of a living animal or human to support the organ, maintain patency and/or deliver drugs or agents. The tubular flexible stent has a cylindrical shape defining a longitudinal axis and includes a helical section having of a plurality of longitudinally oriented strut members and a plurality of circumferentially oriented hinge members connecting circumferentially adjacent strut members to form a band. The band is wrapped about the longitudinal axis in a substantially helical manner to form a plurality of helical windings. At least one connector member extends between longitudinally adjacent helical windings of the band.
A tubular flexible stent having proximal and distal end portions and a cylindrical shape, with luminal and abluminal surfaces and a thickness there between, the cylindrical shape defining a longitudinal axis, the tubular flexible stent comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Made from perforated sheets or tubes, e.g. perforated by laser cuts or etched holes: with bands having a meander structure, adjacent bands being…
Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents: folded prior to deployment
Stents in a form characterised by the wire-like elements; Stents in the form characterised by a net-like or mesh-like structure: the wire-like…
Characterised by a net-like or mesh-like structure: made from perforated sheets or tubes, e.g. perforated by laser cuts or etched holes
About 3 years 6 months of term left · ends 14 Apr 2030 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tissue-supporting medical devices and drug delivery systems, and more particularly to expandable devices that are implanted within a body lumen of a living animal or human to support the organ, maintain patency and/or deliver drugs or agents.
2. Summary of the Related Art
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a flexible stent in the expanded (deployed) state according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a flexible stent in the crimped state according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a flexible stent in the “as cut” (manufactured) state according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The stent of the present invention is very flexible and deliverable, while still providing sufficient radial strength to maintain vessel patency. The stent can be formed in any suitable manner, such as by laser cutting a tube made from a suitable material, including cobalt chromium alloys, stainless steel alloys or nickel titanium alloys. Although coronary flexible stents of the present invention are disclosed to illustrate one embodiment of the present invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the disclosed invention can be equally applied to other locations and lumens in the body, such as, for example, vascular, non-vascular and peripheral vessels, ducts, and the like.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the flexible stent is designed to be crimped down to a reduced diameter and percutaneously delivered through a body lumen to a target site by a delivery catheter. The target site may be, for example, a cardiac artery. Once deployed the flexible stent functions to maintain vessel patency and, if desired, deliver controlled amounts of drug or agent.
Perspective views of a flexible stent 100 in the expanded (deployed), crimped, and “as cut” or manufactured state according to one embodiment of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C respectively. The stent 100 has an “as cut” diameter when first manufactured of D3, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The stent 100 is crimped down to a first diameter D1, illustrated in FIG. 1B, for insertion into a patient and navigation through the vessels, and a second diameter D2, illustrated in FIG. 1A, for deployment into the target area of a vessel, with the second diameter being greater than the first diameter.