High strength and high density intraluminal wire stent

• US 5,906,639 A
• Filed: 09/05/1996
• Issued: 05/25/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Meadox Medicals, Inc. (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Rudnick, James J., Wiktor, Dominik M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brittingham, Debra S.
• Application Number:
  US08/708,651
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: 623/1, 623/11, 623/12, 606/194, 606/195
• US Class Current: 623/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/07 Stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/88 the wire-like elements formed as helical or spiral coils forming a net-like or mesh-like structure A61F2/90
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0058 soldered or brazed or welded
• CPC Class Codes: B21F 45/008 of medical instruments, e.g. stents, corneal rings medical science A61

Abstract

An intraluminally implantable stent is formed of helically wound wire. The stent has a generally elongate tubular configuration and is radially expandable after implantation in a body vessel. The wire includes successively formed waves along the length of the wire. When helically wound into a tube, the waves are longitudinally nested along the longitudinal extent of the stent so as to form a densely compacted wire configuration. After radial expansion the stent maintains high radial compressive strength and wire density to retard tissue ingrowth.

Claims

1. An intraluminal stent comprising:

a generally elongate tubular body formed of an elongate helically wound wire, the wire being formed into successive spaced-apart waves along the length of the wire said waves of said wire having a given amplitude, the waves being arranged in non-overlapping longitudinally spaced succession along the length of said tubular body, the longitudinal spacing of the waves being less than twice the amplitude of the wave.

2. An intraluminal stent of claim 1 wherein longitudinally adjacent said waves are longitudinally nested along the length of said tubular body.

3. An intraluminal stent of claim 2 wherein said longitudinally nested waves define peaks which are linerally aligned.

4. An intraluminal stent of claim 1 wherein said longitudinal spacing of said helically wound wire is less than the amplitude of the wave.

5. An intraluminal stent of claim 1 wherein said tubular body is uniformly flexible along the length thereof.

6. An intraluminal stent of claim 5 wherein said stent is radially expandable after intraluminal implantation.

7. A radially expandable generally tubular endoluminal implantable prosthesis comprising:

a wire which is wound in a helical configuration to define a generally elongate tubular body, the wire including successively formed spaced-apart waves along the length of said wire, each wire wave being non-overlappingly nested within the wave longitudinally spaced thereadjacent.

8. A prosthesis of claim 7 wherein said wire waves are of generally uniform configuration defining a peak-to-peak amplitude of a preselected first dimension.

9. A prosthesis of claim 8 wherein said longitudinally adjacent wire waves are spaced apart a preselected second dimension which is less than the preselected first dimension.

10. A prosthesis of claim 9 wherein said wire has a given wire diameter and wherein said wound wire defines a generally cylindrical outer surface having solid portions formed by said wire and open portions formed between said wound wire.

11. An intraluminal stent comprising:

an elongate tubular body formed of a single wound wire;

said wire having a wave-like pattern defining a plurality of waves formed along the length of said wire, each said wave defining a leg segment between wave peaks, each leg segment being of a length different from a next adjacent leg segment, wherein said tubular body includes longitudinally successive waves along the length thereof, each said wave being nested within the wave formed longitudinally thereadjacent.

12. An intraluminal stent of claim 11 wherein said wire is wound about a central axis forming said tubular body.

13. An intraluminal stent of claim 11 wherein each wave is defined by a peak and a pair of wave leg segments extending from said peak.

14. An intraluminal stent of claim 13 wherein one of said wave leg segments of said pair has a length greater than the other wave leg segment of said pair.

15. An expandable stent for implantation within a blood vessel, comprising:

a substantially cylindrical member formed from a continuous length of wire, wherein said substantially cylindrical member includes a plurality of interconnected, substantially circular, concentric loops disposed between a proximal and a distal end thereof, with the centers of a plurality of said concentric loops being located along a longitudinal axis of said substantially cylindrical member, wherein each of two adjacent first and second concentric loops have at least four bends with a bend being in each quadrant of each of said first and second concentric loops, wherein said first concentric loop is nearer said proximal end than said second concentric loop and at least two of said bends in said first concentric loop are in opposite quadrants of said first concentric loop and at least two of said bends in said second concentric loop are in opposite quadrants of said second concentric loop and wherein a first distance from said at least two of said bends in said second concentric loop to said proximal end of said substantially cylindrical member is greater than a second distance from said at least two of said bends in said first concentric loop to said proximal end of said substantially cylindrical member, whereby the lodging of an intimal flap on an interior wall of said blood vessel between said first and second concentric loops is inhibited.

16. The stent according to claim 15, wherein, when said substantially cylindrical member is implanted in the blood vessel, a plurality of said concentric loops each have a bend, said bend in each concentric loop forming an angle, such that, along a length of said substantially cylindrical member, a line bisecting said angles in a plurality of said bends is substantially parallel to a direction of blood flow through the blood vessel to reduce an impedance of said substantially cylindrical member to blood flow.

17. The stent according to claim 16, wherein the blood vessel has an interior and the interior of the blood vessel has an irregular shape and, when said substantially cylindrical member is implanted in the blood vessel, the magnitudes of a number of said angles vary along a length of said substantially cylindrical member to conform to the shape of said blood vessel.

18. The stent according to claim 15, wherein said at least two of said bends in said first concentric loop are each in a different quadrant of a substantially cylindrical cross-section of said substantially cylindrical member than said at least two of said bends in said second concentric loop.

19. The stent according to claim 15, wherein said bends of said first and said second concentric loops are non-overlapingly nested.