Stent
First Claim
1. A method of fabricating a stent from a wire, comprising:
- (a) winding the wire on a first mandrel;
(b) heating the wound wire to form a coiled spring; and
(c) after said coiled spring has cooled sufficiently, reversing the winding direction of said coiled spring to form the stent.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A stent and a method of making it from a wire, which method includes winding the wire on a mandrel, heating to form a coiled spring, and reversing the winding direction of the coiled spring to form the reversed coiled spring stent. The stent so formed may be reheated over a special mandrel so as to partly relax the outer portion of some or all of the stent coils. The stent may be made up of two or more sections, with adjoining section wound in opposite senses. Such a stent may be deployed by winding the stent onto a catheter, immobilizing the two ends of the wire and one or more intermediate points, bringing the stent to the location where it is to be deployed, and releasing first the intermediate point or points and then the end points. The release of the wire may be accomplished by heating the thread immobilizing the wire so that the thread breaks and releases the wire.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A method of fabricating a stent from a wire, comprising:
-
(a) winding the wire on a first mandrel;
(b) heating the wound wire to form a coiled spring; and
(c) after said coiled spring has cooled sufficiently, reversing the winding direction of said coiled spring to form the stent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
- 7. A stent comprising a coiled wire characterized in that said wire includes at least one section which is wound in one sense and at least one section which is wound in the opposite sense deployment of said stent taking place by tightly winding the stent onto a catheter and subsequently allowing the stent to resume its normal dimensions.
-
13. A method of deploying a stent in a desired location, comprising:
-
(a) tightly winding said stent onto a catheter;
(b) immobilizing at least two tie-down points on the stent using a disconnectable thread;
(c) bringing said stent to the desired location where said stent is to be deployed;
(d) causing said thread to disconnect at one or more of said tie-down points, thereby releasing said tie-down point, wherein said disconnectable thread is meltable and said thread is disconnected by heating said thread so as to cause said thread to melt.
-
-
14. A method of heating a nitinol stent to cause the stent to shift from its martensite phase to its austenite phase and to sense the phase change, comprising:
-
(a) electrically connecting the stent to an electrical power supply;
(b) supplying electrical current to the stent;
(c) sensing a change in at least one electrical property to indicate the phase change;
(d) controlling said current in response to said change. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
-
17. A stent comprising a coiled wire characterized in that said wire is enveloped in a material shaped so that when the stent is fully deployed, portions of said envelope material occupy gaps between adjoining coils of the stent.
Specification