Self-supporting laminated films, structural materials and medical devices manufactured therefrom and method of making same
First Claim
1. An implantable medical device comprising a self-supporting structural member fabricated of a plurality of laminated layers of at least one biocompatible material.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Metal foils, wires, and seamless tubes with increased mechanical strength are provided. As opposed to wrought materials that are made of a single metal or alloy, these materials are made of two or more layers forming a laminate structure. Laminate structures are known to increase mechanical strength of sheet materials such as wood and paper products and are used in the area of thin films to increase film hardness, as well as toughness. Laminate metal foils have not been used or developed because the standard metal forming technologies, such as rolling and extrusion, for example, do not lend themselves to the production of laminate structures. Vacuum deposition technologies can be developed to yield laminate metal structures with improved mechanical properties. In addition, laminate structures can be designed to provide special qualities by including layers that have special properties such as superelasticity, shape memory, radio-opacity, corrosion resistance etc. Examples of articles which may be made by the inventive laminate structures include implantable medical devices that are fabricated from the laminated deposited films and which present a blood or body fluid and tissue contact surface that has controlled heterogeneities in material constitution. An endoluminal stent-graft and web-stent that is made of a laminated film material deposited and etched into regions of structural members and web regions subtending interstitial regions between the structural members. An endoluminal graft is also provided which is made of a biocompatible metal or metal-like material. The endoluminal stent-graft is characterized by having controlled heterogeneities in the stent material along the blood flow surface of the stent and the method of fabricating the stent using vacuum deposition methods.
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Citations
20 Claims
- 1. An implantable medical device comprising a self-supporting structural member fabricated of a plurality of laminated layers of at least one biocompatible material.
- 16. An implantable medical graft comprising at least two tubular members concentrically positioned with respect to one another thereby defining an interfacial region between the at least two tubular members, each of the tubular members being comprised of a plurality of laminated plies forming the tubular member, and a plurality of micro-openings passing through a wall thickness of each tubular member that create cellular migration pathways between a luminal and an abluminal surface of each of the at least two tubular members and through the graft.
- 19. An endoluminal stent comprising a plurality of structural members positioned to define a generally tubular member having interstitial regions between adjacent structural members, at least some of the plurality of structural members comprising a plurality of laminated plies of a biocompatible material and a web of a biocompatible material subtending at least a portion of some of the interstitial regions.
Specification