# US 10,945,868 B2 · Thin-film micromesh and related methods > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,945,868 B2 - Document ID: US10945868B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/048,136 - Filed: 2018-07-27 - Published: 2020-01-30 - Granted: 2021-03-16 - Earliest claimed: 2018-07-27 - Assignees: Monarch Biosciences, Inc. - Applicants: Monarch Biosciences, Inc. - Inventors: Colin Kealey; Vikas Gupta - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10945868B2 ## CPC - A61F 2/915: with bands having a meander structure, adjacent bands being connected to each other - A61F 2/88: the wire-like elements formed as helical or spiral coils - A61F 2002/823: {Stents, different from stent-grafts, adapted to cover an aneurysm} - A61F 2002/825: {having longitudinal struts} - A61F 2002/91541: {Adjacent bands are arranged out of phase} - A61F 2002/91558: {connected peak to peak} - A61F 2002/91575: {connected peak to trough} - A61F 2210/0014: using shape memory or superelastic materials, e.g. nitinol - A61F 2230/0069: cylindrical - A61F 2240/001: Designing or manufacturing processes - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) ## Abstract Thin-film mesh for medical devices and related methods are provided. The thin-film mesh may include slits to be expanded into pores, and the expanded thin-film mesh may be used as a cover for a stent device. The thin-film mesh has a tube-shape and the slits may be angled with respect to a longitudinal axis of the tube-shape thin-film mesh. The angled slits allow for the thin-film mesh to expand in multiple dimensions, including along the longitudinal axis and along the circumferential direction of the tube-shape thin-film mesh. The slits may be provided in diagonal rows arranged in longitudinal columns. Longitudinal columns of different types of slits may be arranged along the circumferential direction on the tube-shape thin-film mesh to form a zig-zag pattern of slits. The thin-film mesh may be formed from thin-film Nitinol (TFN) and may be fabricated via sputter deposition on a micropatterned wafer. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A thin-film micromesh device comprising: a backbone extending in a longitudinal axis; and a thin-film micromesh assembled on the backbone, the thin-film micromesh comprising slits elongated in a slit axis, wherein the slit axis is angled from the longitudinal axis, and wherein the slits, when expanded, form a plurality of diamond-shaped equilateral pores, wherein the slits comprise a first type slit elongated in a first slit axis forming a first angle with the longitudinal axis, and a second type slit elongated in a second slit axis forming a second angle with the longitudinal axis, and wherein the first type slit is a mirror image of the second type slit with respect to the longitudinal axis. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the one or more slits are expandable in an expansion axis perpendicular to the slit axis. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the thin-film micromesh device has a cylindrical shape, and wherein the one or more slits are expanded such that the thin-film micromesh is expandable both along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical shape thin-film micromesh and along a circumferential direction of the cylindrical shape thin-film micromesh. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 3, wherein the thin-film micromesh is expandable along the circumferential direction allowing the cylindrical shape thin-film micromesh device to expand radially increasing a diameter of the cylindrical shape thin-film micromesh device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 3, wherein an angle formed between the slit axis and the longitudinal axis determines an expandability of the thin-film micromesh along the longitudinal axis relative to an expandability of the thin-film micromesh in the circumferential direction. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the thin-film micromesh comprises thin-film Nitinol (TFN). ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the one or more slits are arranged in series in a diagonal row parallel to the slit axis. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 7, wherein diagonal rows of slits are arranged in parallel to form a longitudinal column of slits. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the first angle equals the second angle, but the first type slit and the second type slit are angled from the longitudinal axis in opposite directions. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the first type slit is provided in a first longitudinal column and the second type slit is provided in a second longitudinal column adjacent to the first longitudinal column. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 10, wherein the first type slit and the second type slit form a V-shape at an interface between the first and the second longitudinal columns. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 11, wherein an angle formed by the V-shape determines an expandability of the thin-film micromesh along the longitudinal axis relative to an expandability of the thin-film micromesh in the circumferential direction. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 12, wherein increasing the angle formed by the V-shape increases the expandability of the thin-film micromesh along the longitudinal axis and decreases the expandability of the thin-film micromesh in the circumferential direction. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 1, wherein the thin-film micromesh comprises first type longitudinal columns comprising the first type slits and second type longitudinal columns comprising the second type slits, wherein the first type longitudinal columns and the second type longitudinal columns are arranged around the thin-film micromesh in an alternating matter, such that the first type slits and the second type slits form a zig-zag pattern around the thin-film micromesh. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 14, wherein the first type slits and the second type slits are a mirror image of each other and the zig-zag pattern provides symmetrical or uniform expansion of the thin-film micromesh. ### Claim 16 (depends on 8) The thin-film micromesh device of claim 8, wherein a number of slits in the diagonal rows determines a force required to expand the thin-film micromesh. ### Claim 17 A method comprising: deep reactive ion etching a micropattern of trenches on a surface of a substrate, the trenches corresponding to angled slits in a thin-film micromesh to be formed, wherein the slits, when expanded, form a plurality of diamond-shaped equilateral pores wherein the slits comprise a first type slit elongated in a first slit axis forming a first angle with a longitudinal axis, and a second type slit elongated in a second slit axis forming a second angle with the longitudinal axis, and wherein the first type slit is a mirror image of the second type slit with respect to the longitudinal axis; depositing a lift-off layer on the etched substrate; depositing a first Nitinol layer over the lift-off layer; and etching the lift-off layer to form the thin-film micromesh; and assembling the thin-film micromesh along a backbone extending along the longitudinal axis. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: depositing a bonding layer on at least one area of the first Nitinol layer; depositing a sacrificial layer on a remaining area of the first Nitinol layer; depositing a second Nitinol layer on the bonding layer and the sacrificial layer; and annealing the first Nitinol layer and the second Nitinol layer with the bonding layer; wherein the etching further etches the sacrificial layer to form the thin-film micromesh having a three dimensional shape.