Auxetic stents for managing venous stenosis
AssigneeOregon Health & Science University
InventorsRamsey Al-Hakim, Khashayar Farsad, John Kaufman, Craig Bonsignore
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Abstract
Stents useable for treating venous stenosis are disclosed. In embodiments, a stent is configured to be auxetic, expanding axially as it is expanded radially, to prevent the imposition of tension on portions of a blood vessel adjacent to the stented portion of the blood vessel, and thereby prevent a narrowing of the adjacent portions and improving luminal gain. The stent may include one or more cross members that are deformable axially, to allow the axial length of the stent to be adjusted while maintaining a constant diameter, and further to allow the stent to be curved to conform to vessel curvature.
Claims14
A method for controlling a stenosis in a bodily duct, comprising:
- inserting an apparatus having a plurality of cells arranged in a tubular configuration into a portion of the duct that is partially or wholly obstructed defining a stented portion of the duct and an adjacent portion of the duct that is not stented;
- and
- expanding the apparatus radially to a predetermined diameter that relieves the duct of obstruction and longitudinally to engage with a wall of the duct and longitudinally expand the duct wall,
- wherein the apparatus imparts a longitudinal elongation force on the duct wall during expansion placing the duct wall under tension,
- wherein the apparatus longitudinally expands the duct wall within the stented portion until the tension in the duct wall is balanced with the longitudinal elongation force imparted by the apparatus, while the apparatus reduces strain on the duct wall within the adjacent portion of the duct,
- wherein expansion of the apparatus increases a luminal volume of the duct, and
- wherein the apparatus and the duct wall expand longitudinally as the apparatus's diameter is increased.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.