Implant deployment apparatus
AssigneeW. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
InventorsEric W. Leopold, Joseph C. Trautman, Troy Thornton, Randy S. Chan, Suresh S. Pai, Thomas G. Breton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A delivery system including a restraining member maintains a collapsed implant in its collapsed state for delivery through a small passageway to a desired site in a mammalian body. Once the implant is positioned at the desired site, the restraining member is released so that the stent may expand or be expanded to its expanded state. In a preferred embodiment, the restraining member comprises a sheet of material that surrounds at least a portion of the collapsed stent. Portions of the restraining member are releasably coupled to one another with a low profile thread-like member or suture.
Claims54
A device, comprising:
- an expandable implant;
- a sheet of material wrapped around said expandable implant, said sheet having first and second major surfaces and a plurality of openings extending from said first major surface to said second major surface;
- and
- a coupling member cooperating with said openings for releasably coupling portions of the sheet to one another to maintain said expandable implant in a collapsed state.
A device, comprising:
- an expandable implant;
- a sheet of material wrapped around said expandable implant;
- a coupling member for releasably coupling portions of the sheet to one another to maintain said expandable implant in a collapsed state, wherein said portions include side margins extending between longitudinal ends of said sheet, and at least one opening is disposed along each of said side margins;
- and
- a reinforcing member disposed between said at least one opening and an outer perimeter of the side margin.
A device, comprising:
- an expandable implant;
- a sheet of material wrapped around said expandable implant;
- a reinforcing member;
- and
- a coupling member for releasably coupling portions of the sheet to one another to maintain said expandable implant in a collapsed state, wherein said portions include side margins extending between longitudinal ends of said sheet of material, and at least one opening is disposed along each of said side margins, wherein at least one of said side margins comprises overlapping portions of said sheet, said reinforcing member being positioned between said overlapping portions.
An assembly, comprising:
- an implant having a collapsed state and an expanded state and including a stent;
- and
- a sheet of material attached to said implant, said implant being in said collapsed state and having said sheet of material wrapped around at least a portion thereof, said sheet having ends and margin portions extending between said ends, said margin portions being releasably coupled to one another.
A method for deploying a prosthesis in a lumen comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing an expandable stent which is coupled to and restrained in a collapsed state by a restraining member,
- (b) positioning said collapsed and restrained stent in a lumen having a wall,
- (c) releasing said restraining member, and
- (d) expanding said stent into a deployed configuration and urging said restraining member into a position against said wall.
A method of assembling an implant, comprising the steps of:
- placing a collapsed implant in a sheet of material having longitudinally extending side margins, said sheet having first and second major surfaces and a plurality of openings extending from said first major surface to said second major surface;
- and
- coupling said side margins to each other to maintain said implant in a collapsed configuration.
A method of assembling an implant, comprising the steps of:
- placing a collapsed implant in a sheet of material having longitudinally extending side margins;
- and
- coupling said side margins to each other to maintain said implant in a collapsed configuration, wherein said coupling step comprises coupling said side margins with multiple elements such that multiple portions of the side margins may be released simultaneously.
A method for collapsing an expandable stent into a generally tubular restraining member comprising the steps of:
- (a) pulling the stent through a tapered construct which radially collapses the stent, and
- (b) positioning the stent into a restraining member, said restraining member having first and second major surfaces and a plurality of openings extending from said first major surface to said second major surface.
A device, comprising:
- a tubular support;
- a sheet member attached to said tubular support and having at least one connectable free end;
- and
- a coupling member for releasably connecting said at least one free end to said sheet member to maintain said support in a collapsed state.
An assembly comprising:
- a stent-graft having a collapsed and an expanded state;
- and
- an attached restraining member,
- said restraining member adapted to be wrapped around at least a portion of said stent-graft and having longitudinally extending side portions adapted to be releasibly coupled to each other to maintain said stent-graft in its collapsed state.
A device, comprising:
- an expandable implant;
- a sheet of material wrapped around said expandable implant;
- and
- a coupling member for releasably coupling portions of the sheet to one another to maintain said expandable implant in a collapsed state, wherein the coupling member comprises a filament or thread-like element that forms at least one releasable knot.
A device, comprising:
- an expandable implant;
- a sheet of material wrapped around and attached to said expandable implant;
- and
- a coupling member for releasably coupling portions of the sheet to one another to maintain said expandable implant in a collapsed state.
A method of assembling an implant, comprising the steps of:
- placing a collapsed implant in a sheet of material having longitudinally extending side margins;
- and
- coupling said side margins to each other with a filament or thread-like element that forms at least one releasable knot to maintain said implant in a collapsed configuration.
A method of assembling an implant, comprising the steps of:
- placing a collapsed implant in a sheet of material having longitudinally extending side margins;
- coupling said side margins to each other to maintain said implant in a collapsed configuration;
- and
- attaching said implant to said sheet of material.
A method for collapsing an expandable stent into a generally tubular restraining member comprising the steps of:
- (a) pulling an expandable stent through a tapered construct which radially collapses the stent;
- (b) positioning the stent into a restraining member having side margins;
- and
- (c) coupling said side margins together with a filament or thread-like element and forming at least one releasable knot to maintain said stent in a collapsed configuration.
A method for collapsing an expandable implant into a generally tubular restraining member comprising the steps of:
- (a) pulling an expandable implant through a tapered construct which radially collapses the implant;
- (b) positioning the implant into a restraining member having side margins;
- and
- (c) attaching the implant to said restraining member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.