Stent delivery catheter system for primary stenting

A pre-deployment configuration for a primary stenting system for placing a stent within a stenosis of a vessel in a human body, the system comprising:

• a flexible guide wire;
• a balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal portion, the balloon angioplasty catheter having an inflatable balloon located at its distal portion, the inflatable balloon having a proximal end and a distal end, the balloon angioplasty catheter also having a lumen through which the guide wire can be slideably moved, the balloon angioplasty catheter also having a distal tip which extends in the distal direction from the distal end of the balloon to the distal end of the balloon angioplasty catheter, the distal tip having a proximal end and a distal end,
• a stent coaxially mounted around the inflatable balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter;
• a sheath generally in the form of a cylindrical tube that is coaxially located around the balloon angioplasty catheter with its coaxially mounted stent, the sheath having an ultra-thin distal section, the ultra-thin distal section of the sheath being shrunk down onto the distal portion of the balloon angioplasty catheter including its coaxially mounted stent, the distal end of the shrunk down ultra-thin distal section being situated between the distal end of the angioplasty balloon and the distal end of the distal tip;
• and
• an elastomer securing tube having a proximal section and a distal section, the distal section being fixedly attached to the distal end of the distal tip of the balloon angioplasty catheter and the proximal section of the elastomer securing tube being adapted to cover the distal end of the ultra-thin section of the sheath, the sheath being adapted to be slideably retracted in a proximal direction from under the securing tube.

A pre-deployment configuration for a primary stenting system for placing a stent within a stenosis of a vessel in a human body, the system comprising:

• a flexible guide wire;
• a balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal portion, the balloon angioplasty catheter having an inflatable balloon located at its distal portion, the inflatable balloon having a proximal end and a distal end, the balloon angioplasty catheter also having a flexible, distal tip having a distal end and a proximal end and also having a lumen through which the guide wire can be slideably moved;
• a stent coaxially mounted around the inflatable balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter;
• a coaxially mounted proximal elastomer band situated over the portion of the balloon angioplasty catheter that lies just proximal to the stent;
• and
• a coaxially mounted distal elastomer band situated over the portion of the balloon angioplasty catheter that lies just distal to the stent, the proximal and distal elastomer bands being adapted to prevent the coaxially mounted stent from sliding off of the inflatable balloon in either a proximal direction or a distal direction.

A pre-deployment configuration for a primary stenting system for placing a stent within a stenosis of a vessel in a human body, the system comprising:

• a flexible guide wire;
• a balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal portion, the balloon angioplasty catheter having an inflatable balloon located at its distal portion, the inflatable balloon having a proximal end and a distal end, the balloon angioplasty catheter also having a flexible, gradually tapered distal tip having a distal end and a proximal end and also having a lumen through which the guide wire can be slideably moved, the gradually tapered distal tip having a tapered proximal portion and a tapered distal portion, both proximal and distal portions of the gradually tapered distal tip having a gradual taper;
• and
• a stent coaxially mounted around the inflatable balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter;
• a sheath generally in the form of an elongated cylinder that is coaxially located around the balloon angioplasty catheter, the sheath having a proximal section and an ultra-thin distal section, the proximal section of the sheath having a proximal end and a distal end, the ultra-thin distal section of the sheath having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the ultra-thin distal section of the sheath being fixedly attached to the distal end of the proximal section of the sheath, at least a portion of the ultra-thin distal section being shrunk onto the stent and also onto the tapered proximal portion of the gradually tapered distal tip, the sheath being adapted to be slideably retracted in a proximal direction so that the distal end of the ultra-thin section of the sheath can be placed proximal to the balloon so as to allow balloon expansion for radial expansion of the stent.