Helical stent having improved flexibility and expandability
First Claim
1. A stent comprising:
- a tubular member including;
a central portion comprising a plurality of helical windings separated by a helical space, each of the plurality of helical windings including a plurality of undulations, each of the plurality of undulations comprising two adjacent struts and a loop connecting the struts, wherein;
a plurality of bridges connects loops of a first winding of the plurality of helical windings to loops of a second adjacent winding of the plurality of helical windings, anda same number of struts is traversed on the first winding and the second adjacent winding between adjacent bridges of the plurality of bridges; and
cylindrical end portions; and
a transition zone between the central portion and each of the cylindrical end portions, the transition zone including a plurality of transition undulations having transition zone struts that increase in length.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A stent includes a central portion of helically wound undulations formed of struts, cylindrical end portions, and transition zones between the helical portion and the cylindrical portions. According to a first aspect of the invention, the torsional flexibility of the stent is maximized by having bridges connecting adjacent windings be interrupted by the maximum possible number of undulations. In one embodiment, each winding includes nineteen undulations around the circumference; bridges are provided every five undulations. According to a second aspect of the invention, uniform opening of the transition zone is achieved by altering the width, and thereby the flexibility, of a series of struts in accordance with their lengths. Specifically, the long transition zone struts are made wider.
207 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A stent comprising:
a tubular member including; a central portion comprising a plurality of helical windings separated by a helical space, each of the plurality of helical windings including a plurality of undulations, each of the plurality of undulations comprising two adjacent struts and a loop connecting the struts, wherein; a plurality of bridges connects loops of a first winding of the plurality of helical windings to loops of a second adjacent winding of the plurality of helical windings, and a same number of struts is traversed on the first winding and the second adjacent winding between adjacent bridges of the plurality of bridges; and cylindrical end portions; and a transition zone between the central portion and each of the cylindrical end portions, the transition zone including a plurality of transition undulations having transition zone struts that increase in length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A stent comprising:
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a tubular member including a central portion having two ends, the central portion comprising a plurality of helical windings separated by a helical space, each of the plurality of helical windings including a plurality of undulations, each of the plurality of undulations comprising two adjacent struts and a loop connecting the struts, cylindrical end portions at each of the two ends of the central portion, and transition zones between the central portion and each of the cylindrical end portions, the transition zones including a plurality of transition undulations having struts that increase in length, wherein a longer strut of the transition undulations has a wider width than a shorter strut of the transition undulations. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification