Method and apparatus for restricting flow through an opening in the side wall of a body lumen, and/or for reinforcing a weakness in the side wall of a body lumen, while still maintaining substantially normal flow through the body lumen

An expandable substantially spherical structure for deployment in a blood vessel or other body lumen, comprising:

• an open frame configured to assume a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration;
• a flow-restricting face carried by the open frame;
• and
• a plurality of stabilizing legs attached to, and extending away from, the open frame;
• wherein the open frame and the plurality of stabilizing legs are configured so as to permit substantially normal flow therethrough when the open frame is in its expanded configuration, and further wherein the flow-restricting face is configured so as to restrict flow therethrough.

A method for restricting flow through an opening in the side wall of a body lumen while maintaining substantially normal flow through the body lumen, comprising:

• providing an expandable substantially spherical structure for deployment in the body lumen, comprising:
• an open frame configured to assume a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration;
• a flow-restricting face carried by the open frame;
• and
• a plurality of stabilizing legs attached to, and extending away from, the open frame;
• wherein the open frame and the plurality of stabilizing legs are configured so as to permit flow therethrough when the open frame is in its expanded configuration, and further wherein the flow-restricting face is configured so as to restrict flow therethrough;
• delivering the expandable substantially spherical structure to a therapy site within the body lumen while the open frame is in its collapsed configuration and the plurality of stabilizing legs are in a collapsed configuration;
• and
• transforming the expandable substantially spherical structure from its collapsed configuration to its expanded configuration, and transforming the plurality of stabilizing legs from their collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration, so that the expandable substantially spherical structure is securely lodged in the body lumen, with the flow-restricting face of the expandable substantially spherical structure positioned so as to restrict flow to the opening in the side wall of the body lumen and with the open frame and the plurality of stabilizing legs permitting flow through the body lumen.