Resorbable urethral stent and apparatus for its insertion

A method for treating a stenosis in a bodily lumen, comprising the steps of:

• (1) inserting at least a portion of a sheath, including a distal end thereof, into the lumen, while the lumen is under direct visualization through the sheath;
• (2) providing a helically coiled stent of resiliently deformable, biocompatible material;
• (3) resiliently compressing the stent from an uncompressed first diameter to a smaller compressed diameter;
• (4) while the stent is compressed to its smaller diameter, and while the lumen is under direct visualization through the sheath, passing the stent through the sheath into the lumen to the vicinity of the stenosis;
• and
• (5) while the lumen is under direct visualization through the sheath, discharging the stent, from the distal end of the sheath, into the lumen at the site of the stenosis, thereby allowing the stent to restore itself substantially to its uncompressed diameter, at least substantially as a result of its inherent resiliency.

A method for treating a stenosis in a bodily lumen, comprising the steps of:

• (1) providing a helically-coiled stent of resiliently deformable, biocompatible material, the stent being provided in an uncompressed first diameter, and removably attached to manually actuable coiling means for selectively coiling the stent more or less tightly;
• (2) actuating the coiling means to coil the stent more tightly, thereby resiliently compressing the stent from the uncompressed first diameter to a compressed second diameter smaller than the first diameter;
• (3) enclosing the stent within a sheath, near the distal end thereof, while maintaining the stent in its second diameter;
• (4) inserting at least that portion of the sheath enclosing the stent into the lumen so as to locate the stent substantially at the site of the stenosis;
• (5) withdrawing the sheath;
• and
• (6) restoring the stent substantially to its uncompressed first diameter at the site of the stenosis.

A device for inserting a helically-coiled stent, formed of a resiliently-deformable, biocompatible material, into a bodily lumen of a patient, comprising:

• an elongate, hollow, tubular sheath adapted for insertion into the lumen, the sheath having an open distal end, the sheath being axially-movable between an extended position and a retracted position;
• an elongate rod, disposed axially within the interior of the sheath, and having a distal portion that is exposed through the distal end of the sheath when the sheath is in its retracted position, the distal portion terminating in a head adapted for the removable attachment thereto of one end of the stent;
• a tubular bushing coaxially surrounding a portion of the removable attachment thereto of a second end of the stent;
• and
• rotational means for causing relative rotation between the bushing and the rod;
• whereby, when the stent is attached to the head and the bushing, the relative rotation of the bushing and the elongate rod in a first direction compresses the stent from a first diameter to a smaller second diameter, and the relative rotation of the bushing and the elongate rod in a second direction restores the stent from its second diameter substantially to its first diameter.

A device for inserting a helically-coiled stent, formed of a resiliently-deformable, biocompatible material, into a bodily lumen of a patient, comprising:

• an elongate, hollow, tubular sheath adapted for insertion into the lumen, the sheath having an open distal end;
• an elongate plunger, sized to be insertable into the interior of the sheath with a predetermined circumferential clearance, the plunger having a distal portion adapted for removably carrying the stent coaxially thereon;
• and
• guide means, disposed at the proximal end of the sheath and engageable with the stent, for reducing the diameter of the stent from an uncompressed first diameter to substantially the internal diameter of the sheath as the plunger is inserted into the sheath;
• whereby the stent is passed through the interior of the sheath by the plunger and discharged from the distal end of the sheath into the lumen, where the stent is resiliently restored substantially to its first diameter.