Biodegradable stent
AssigneeEthicon, Inc.
InventorsArindam Datta, Shawn Thayer Huxel, Dennis D. Jamiolkowski, Yufu Li
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A biodegradable stent for implantation into a lumen in a human body. The stent in one embodiment is made from a biodegradable fiber having an inner core and an outer layer. The outer layer is a blend of two polymer components. The inner core has a first degradation rate, and the outer layer has a second degradation rate. The second degradation rate is slower than the first degradation rate. The fiber softens in vivo such that the stent is readily passed from the lumen as a softened fragment or filament after a pre-determined period of time through normal flow of body fluids passing through the lumen.
Claims17
A stent, comprising:
- a helical structure having a plurality of adjacent coils, said structure having a longitudinal axis and said adjacent coils having a pitch, said structure having spaces between said adjacent coils, said structure having an internal longitudinal passage wherein said structure is made from a fiber having a cross-section, said fiber comprising:
- an inner core having an exterior surface comprising a biodegradable polymer formed from monomers selected from the group consisting of lactide, glycolide, para-dioxanone, trimethylene carbonate, caprolactone, and combinations thereof, said polymer having a first degradation rate;
- an outer section covering the exterior surface of the inner core, the outer section comprising a blend of a first biodegradable polymer component and a second biodegradable polymer component, said first polymer component comprising a first biodegradable polymer, wherein said first biodegradable polymer comprises a lactide/glycolide copolymer having at least about 80 mole percent of polymerized glycolide, said second polymer component comprising a second biodegradable polymer, wherein said second polymer comprises a lactide-rich copolymer comprising at least about 50 mole percent of polymerized lactide, said outer layer having a second degradation rate, wherein the blend comprises at least about 50 weight percent of the first component and at least about 5 weight percent of the second component,
- wherein said second degradation rate of said outer section is lower than said first degradation rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.