Appliance to be implanted, method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted and method of using the appliance to be implanted

• US 5,843,162 A
• Filed: 01/03/1997
• Issued: 12/01/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kanji Inoue
• Original Assignee: Kanji Inoue
• Inventors: Inoue, Kanji
• Primary Examiner(s): Milano, Michael J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TRAM A
• Application Number:
  US08/765,216
• Time in Patent Office: 697 Days
• Field of Search: 623/1, 623/11, 623/12, 606/191, 606/194, 606/195, 606/198
• US Class Current: 623/1.13
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/07 Stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/86 Stents in a form characterised by the wire-like elements; Stents in the form characterised by a net-like or mesh-like structure
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/89 the wire-like elements comprising two or more adjacent rings flexibly connected by separate members
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/9522 Means for mounting a stent or stent-graft onto or into a placement instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/9525 using a funnel
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/954 for placing stents or stent-grafts in a bifurcation
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/97 the outer sleeve being splittable
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/065 Y-shaped blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/072 Encapsulated stents, e.g. wire or whole stent embedded in lining
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/075 the stent being loosely attached to the graft material, e.g. by stitching
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9505 having retaining means other than an outer sleeve, e.g. male-female connector between stent and instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 the retaining means being filaments or wires
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/903 Blood vessel

Abstract

The artificial blood vessel A comprises a front end wire ring 10₁, a rear end wire ring 10₂ arranged facing to the front end wire ring 10₁, a tubular cover 7 which connects the end wire rings 10₁, 10₂, and a plurality of intermediate wire rings 12 arranged spaced apart from each other between the front end wire ring 10₁ and the rear end wire ring 10₂. Each of the front end wire ring 10₁, the rear end wire ring 10₂ and the intermediate wire rings 12 are given flexibly foldable elasticity. The circumference of the front end wire ring 10₁ is equally divided into four by dividing points 41₁, 42₁, 43₁, 44₁. Hooking devices 13 are formed for a front pull string to be passed through at the dividing points 41₁, 43₁. The circumference of the intermediate wire ring 12 is fixed to the tubular cover 7 by suturing or with adhesive at the positions 51₃, 52₃, 53₃, 54₃ which correspond to the midpoint 51₁ between the dividing points 41₁, 42₁, the midpoint 52₁ between the dividing points 42₁, 43₁, the midpoint 53₁ between the dividing points 43₁, 44₁, and the midpoint 54₁ between the dividing points 44₁, 41₁.

Claims

1. The appliance to be implanted, comprising a front end wire ring, a rear end wire ring arranged facing to said front end wire ring, a tubular cover which connects said front end wire ring and said rear end wire ring, and a plurality of intermediate wire rings spaced apart from each other between the front end wire ring and the rear end wire ring, in which each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, characterized in that the circumference of said front end wire ring and said intermediate wire rings are equally divided into four or an even number over four segments with dividing points between said segments, that hooking means are formed for a front pull string to be passed through every other dividing point between said segments in said front end wire ring and that the circumference of the intermediate wire rings are fixed to the tubular cover by suturing or with adhesive only at positions which correspond to midpoints between each adjacent two of the dividing points on said intermediate wire rings, said midpoints on said front end wire ring and said intermediate wire rings being in alignment.

2. The appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1 and characterized by that a single rear end wire ring is arranged to face to a single front end wire ring.

3. The appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1 and characterized by that parallely arranged two rear end wire rings are arranged to face to a single front end wire ring and that a bifurcated tubular cover connects the front end wire ring and two rear end wire rings with forming a Y-shape.

4. The appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1 and characterized by that each of the front and rear end wire rings is circumferentially covered with elastic protective material.

5. The appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1 and characterized by that thorns are provided on the circumference of at least one of said wire rings so as to stick into a human organ to be embedded therein.