Medial region deployment of radially self-expanding stents
First Claim
1. An apparatus for deploying a radially self-expanding stent within a body lumen, including:
- a retaining means for maintaining an elongate, radially self-expanding stent in a delivery configuration wherein the stent has a reduced radius along its entire axial length, the retaining means including a proximal member radially confining a proximal end region of the stent and a distal member radially confining a distal end region of the stent, the proximal and distal members being movable axially with respect to one another toward and away from a confinement position in which the members, while so confining their respective end regions of the stent, cooperate to maintain the stent in the delivery configuration; and
a flexible, elongate delivery means for delivering the stent, when in the delivery configuration and disposed near a distal end of the delivery means, to a deployment site in the body lumen, the delivery means including a control means operably associated with the confinement means for moving the proximal and distal members axially with respect to each other away from the confinement position to allow an initial radial self-expansion of the stent only along a medial region between the end regions as the proximal and distal members continue to radially confine said respective end regions, and further for moving the proximal and distal members axially relative to said respective end regions following the initial self-expansion, to release the stent for radial self-expansion along its entire axial length.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for deploying a radially self-expanding stent includes proximal and distal sleeves respectively containing proximal and distal end portions of the stent in a reduced radius delivery configuration. The sleeves can abut one another and thus contain the entire length of the stent, or may be used in combination with an outer catheter surrounding the sleeves and containing the medial region of the stent. In either event, once the stent and sleeves are positioned at the intended fixation site, the sleeves are moved axially with respect to one another to permit radial self-expansion of the stent only over its medial region, while the sleeves continue to contain the axially outward regions of the stent. Eventually, upon sufficient movement of the sleeves axially relative to one another, the stent becomes totally free of the sleeves, resulting in radial expansion over the entire stent length. The axial relative movement of the sleeves can be controlled by two or more catheters mounted movably with respect to one another, one catheter integral with each of the sleeves. Alternative arrangements for separating the sleeves include an externally threaded inner catheter, and a dilatation balloon or membrane expandable to force the sleeves apart from one another.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. An apparatus for deploying a radially self-expanding stent within a body lumen, including:
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a retaining means for maintaining an elongate, radially self-expanding stent in a delivery configuration wherein the stent has a reduced radius along its entire axial length, the retaining means including a proximal member radially confining a proximal end region of the stent and a distal member radially confining a distal end region of the stent, the proximal and distal members being movable axially with respect to one another toward and away from a confinement position in which the members, while so confining their respective end regions of the stent, cooperate to maintain the stent in the delivery configuration; and a flexible, elongate delivery means for delivering the stent, when in the delivery configuration and disposed near a distal end of the delivery means, to a deployment site in the body lumen, the delivery means including a control means operably associated with the confinement means for moving the proximal and distal members axially with respect to each other away from the confinement position to allow an initial radial self-expansion of the stent only along a medial region between the end regions as the proximal and distal members continue to radially confine said respective end regions, and further for moving the proximal and distal members axially relative to said respective end regions following the initial self-expansion, to release the stent for radial self-expansion along its entire axial length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A process for deploying a radially self-expanding stent within a body lumen, including the steps of:
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confining a radially self-expanding stent in a reduced radius delivery configuration with a retaining device including proximal and distal members confining respective proximal and distal regions of the stent, while guiding the stent to a point at least proximate a predetermined site within a body lumen and along a tissue wall segment defining the body lumen, the stent including a distal end region, a proximal end region and a medial region between the distal and proximal regions; with the enclosure at the predetermined site, moving first and second sections of the enclosure axially with respect to one another to permit an initial radial expansion of the stent only along the medial region while confining the proximal and distal regions of the stent against radial expansion with the first and second enclosure sections, respectively; and after the initial expansion, further moving the first and second enclosure sections axially with respect to one another to allow a self-expansion of the stent progressing axially outwardly of the medial region along the proximal and distal regions, until the stent is free of the first and second enclosure sections and is radially expanded and in contact with the tissue wall segment along its entire axial length. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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Specification