EXPANDABLE MEDICAL DEVICE WITH DUCTILE HINGES
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Abstract
An expandable tissue supporting device of the present invention employs ductile hinges at selected points in the expandable device. When expansion forces are applied to the device as a whole, the ductile hinges concentrate expansion stresses and strains in small well defined areas. The expandable medical device including ductile hinges provides the advantages of low expansion force requirements, relatively thick walls which are radio-opaque, improved crimping properties, high crush strength, reduced elastic recoil after implantation, and control of strain to a desired level. The expandable tissue supporting device includes a plurality of elongated beams arranged in a cylindrical device and connected together by a plurality of ductile hinges. Although many ductile hinge configurations are possible, the ductile hinges preferably have a substantially constant hinge cross sectional area which is smaller than a beam cross sectional area such that as the device is expanded from a first diameter to a second diameter, the ductile hinges experience plastic deformation while the beams are not plastically deformed.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1-26. -26. (canceled)
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27. An expandable medical device comprising:
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a plurality of elongated beams, the plurality of elongated beams joined together to form a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from a first diameter to a second diameter and; a plurality of ductile hinges connecting the plurality of beams together in the substantially cylindrical device, wherein the hinge width is smaller than the beam width such that as the device is expanded from the first diameter to the second diameter the ductile hinges experience plastic deformation while the beams are not plastically deformed, each of the ductile hinges being in the shape of a curved beam having first and second arcuate surfaces facing the same direction with the second arcuate surface being larger than the first arcuate surface, the curved beams being positioned such that during expansion tensile strain is distributed along the second arcuate surface of the curved prismatic beam. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An expandable medical device comprising:
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a plurality of elongated beams each defining a beam width in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical device, the plurality of elongated beams joined together to form a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from a first diameter to a second diameter; and a plurality of ductile hinges connecting the plurality of beams together in the substantially cylindrical device, each hinge defining a hinge width in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical device and having first and second side surfaces, wherein the hinge width is smaller than the beam width such that as the device is expanded from the first diameter to the second diameter the ductile hinges experience plastic deformation while the beams are not plastically deformed, the ductile hinges being asymmetrically configured with a first side surface placed in compression during expansion of the device and a second side surface placed intension during expansion of the device, wherein the first side surface has a length smaller than a length of the second side surface; wherein the second side surface is a convex arcuate surface. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification