Method and apparatus for maintaining patency in the body passages
First Claim
1. A stent for maintaining patency in a body passage, said stent comprising:
- a generally cylindrical wall structure having apertures which allow tissue growth to penetrate therethrough; and
means for intermittently applying energy directly to the stent to disrupt tissue growth penetrating through said apertures without substantial damage to tissue surrounding the wall structure.
5 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An intraluminal stent for maintaining patency in body passages subject to invasive tissue growth includes a cylindrical wall having radial passages therethrough. A mechanism is provided for disrupting cellular growth which penetrates through the passages. The mechanism may provide for mechanical disruption, thermal disruption, or preferably for excision using radio frequency energy. In a specific embodiment, the cylindrical wall is defined by a tubular mesh, and the mechanism for disrupting cellular growth comprises parallel wires within the mesh. The wires are connected to an external radio frequency source and act as electrodes in effecting excision using the radio frequency energy.
910 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A stent for maintaining patency in a body passage, said stent comprising:
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a generally cylindrical wall structure having apertures which allow tissue growth to penetrate therethrough; and means for intermittently applying energy directly to the stent to disrupt tissue growth penetrating through said apertures without substantial damage to tissue surrounding the wall structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A stent for maintaining patency in a body passage, said stent comprising:
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a generally cylindrical wall structure having apertures which allow tissue growth therethrough, said wall being electrically and thermally insulating; and means disposed on an interior lumen surface of the wall structure for supplying energy directly from the stent to disrupt tissue growth through said apertures. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A stent for maintaining patency in a body passage, said stent comprising:
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a generally cylindrical mesh structure including multiple pairs of electrically conductive spaced-apart wires, wherein the wires of each pair are electrically isolated from each other; and means for coupling said pairs of spaced-apart wires to a radio frequency energy source, whereby energy is directed to tissue penetrating between said wires. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for maintaining patency in a body passage subject to occlusion resulting from excessive tissue growth, said method comprising:
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positioning a stent having a cylindrical wall structure within the body passage, said cylindrical wall having apertures therethrough; allowing tissue growth through said apertures in the cylindrical wall structure of the stent; and periodically applying energy directly to the stent to disrupt tissue growth through said apertures. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification