Back to results
US 2008/0177374 A1Published application
Biodegradable endoprostheses and methods for their fabrication
AssigneeElixir Medical Corporation
InventorsXiaoxia Zheng, John Yan, Vinayak Bhat
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Biodegradable endoprostheses are formed from amorphous polymers having desirable biodegradation characteristics. The strength of such amorphous polymers is enhanced by annealing to increase crystallinity without substantially increasing the biodegradation time.
Claims44
A method for fabricating a biodegradable prosthesis, said method comprising:
- providing a tubular body having an initial diameter, wherein said tubular body is composed at least partially of a substantially amorphous biodegradable polymer;
- wherein the tubular body undergoes modifications to increase the crystallinity of the polymer.
A method for fabricating a biodegradable prosthesis, said method comprising:
- providing a tubular body having an initial diameter, wherein said tubular body is composed at least partially of a substantially amorphous biodegradable polymer, while the diameter remains substantially unchanged;
- heating the tubular body to a temperature above a glass transition temperature of the polymer and below the melting point of the polymer;
- cooling the tubular body to increase the crystallinity of the polymer;
- and
- patterning the tubular body into a structure capable of radial contraction and expansion.
2 more elements
A biodegradable prosthesis comprising:
- a tubular body composed at least partially of a substantially amorphous biodegradable polymer, wherein the biodegradable polymer is substantially amorphous but has undergone modification to increase crystallinity by at least 20% of original cyrstallinity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.