METHOD FOR COLD LOADING AN ARTICLES
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of loading an article, such as a self-expanding stent, into a structure, such as a delivery catheter, including the steps of chilling the article to a predetermined temperature, reducing article size a predetermined amount, inserting fluid into the article, whereby the fluid forms a substantially solid plug with respect to the article, and moving the frozen article. Also provided is an apparatus for loading an article into a structure including: an article size reduction element, a chiller connected to the size reduction element, a cold source communicatively connected to the chiller, and a fluid supply communicatively connected to the size reduction element.
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Citations
37 Claims
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23. A method of loading a stent having a tubular body and a central lumen, into a deployment catheter, comprising the steps of:
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a. compressing the stent to a diameter less than the diameter of the lumen of the deployment catheter; b. applying a support matrix to the stent by cooling the stent to a predetermined cold temperature and applying a fluid to the stent, whereby the fluid freezes to form the matrix embedding the stent across the central lumen of the stent; c. pushing the stent and matrix into the stent deployment catheter lumen, whereby the matrix supports the tubular body of the stent; and d. a removing the matrix from the inserted stent by sublimation. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification