Scaffolds having a radiopaque marker and methods for attaching a marker to a scaffold
AssigneeAbbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc.
InventorsRommel Lumauig, Joel Harrington, Chad Abunassar, David D. Hart, Cornel I. Ciurea, Mark A Ritchie, Jay A. King, Jill McCoy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A scaffold includes a radiopaque marker connected to a strut. The marker is retained within the strut by a head at one or both ends. The marker is attached to the strut by a process that includes forming a rivet from a radiopaque bead and attaching the rivet to the marker including deforming the rivet to enhance resistance to dislodgement during crimping or balloon expansion. The strut has a thickness of about 100 microns.
Claims20
A method for making a medical device, comprising:
- providing a polymer scaffold having a link with a hole formed in the link, wherein the hole has an upper hole opening, an opposing lower hole opening, and an annular concave wall portion between the upper hole opening and the lower hole opening;
- and
- forcing a spherical marker into one of the hole openings to place the marker flush within the hole such that the forcible insertion of the marker into the hole causes a middle segment of the marker and the concave wall portion to conform to each other for resisting dislodgement of the marker from the hole, wherein an upper and lower exposed surfaces of the marker are flush with luminal and abluminal surfaces of the link, and wherein the polymer scaffold includes a polymer that is heated to a temperature of 0-20 degrees Celsius above the glass transition temperature of the polymer during or after forcing the marker into one of the hole openings, such that the heating improves retention force for maintaining the marker in the hole.
A method for making a medical device, comprising:
- providing a polymer scaffold including a strut having a hole formed in the strut, wherein the strut has a thickness less than 150 microns measured between a first side of the strut and a second side of the strut, and the strut comprises poly(L-lactide);
- placing a marker on the hole;
- pressing the marker into the hole to secure the marker within the hole such that the pressing of the marker into the hole causes the marker and the hole to conform to each other for resisting dislodgement of the marker from the hole;
- and
- heating the scaffold to a temperature of up to 20 degrees Celsius above the glass transition temperature of the poly(L-lactide) during and/or after pressing the marker into the hole, such that the heating improves retention force for maintaining the marker in the hole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.