Compliant intraluminal stents
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An expandable, generally tubular, intraluminal stent, having two ends and a center portion, for insertion within the lumen of a vessel, comprising:
- a. a plurality of rigid longitudinal struts oriented generally parallel to one another about a central axis of the tubular stent;
b. a plurality of end links connected between ends of the longitudinal struts, each end link having a first and second leg joined at a fulcrum with the first leg connected with an end of one longitudinal strut and the second leg connected with an end of an adjacent longitudinal strut so that moment arms provided by the first and second legs permit radial flexibility of the stent to gradually decrease from the ends of the stent toward the center portion of the stent; and
c. a plurality of deformable cross-links circumferentially connecting longitudinal struts at the center portion of the stent, each cross-link having first and second ends disposed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the longitudinal struts to permit the stent to expand upon deformation of the cross-links from a first smaller diameter into a second larger diameter, the deformed cross-links being more rigid than the end links to provide increased rigidity at the center portion of the expanded stent.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An expandable, intraluminal tubular stent is provided for insertion and expansion within the lumen of a vessel. The stent includes a plurality of longitudinal struts. A series of arcuate or V-shaped end links are connected between the ends of the longitudinal struts. A series of deformable cross-links are circumferentially connected between adjacent longitudinal struts at a center portion of the longitudinal struts to permit the stent to be expanded from a first smaller diameter into a second larger diameter upon insertion into the vessel.
126 Citations
47 Claims
-
1. An expandable, generally tubular, intraluminal stent, having two ends and a center portion, for insertion within the lumen of a vessel, comprising:
-
a. a plurality of rigid longitudinal struts oriented generally parallel to one another about a central axis of the tubular stent;
b. a plurality of end links connected between ends of the longitudinal struts, each end link having a first and second leg joined at a fulcrum with the first leg connected with an end of one longitudinal strut and the second leg connected with an end of an adjacent longitudinal strut so that moment arms provided by the first and second legs permit radial flexibility of the stent to gradually decrease from the ends of the stent toward the center portion of the stent; and
c. a plurality of deformable cross-links circumferentially connecting longitudinal struts at the center portion of the stent, each cross-link having first and second ends disposed at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the longitudinal struts to permit the stent to expand upon deformation of the cross-links from a first smaller diameter into a second larger diameter, the deformed cross-links being more rigid than the end links to provide increased rigidity at the center portion of the expanded stent. - 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, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
-
-
45. An expandable, generally tubular, intraluminal stent, having a longitudinal axis, for insertion within the lumen of a vessel, comprising a. at least one rigid longitudinal strut oriented generally parallel to a central axis of the stent:
-
a. a rigid center portion to intenially support the vessel; and
b. end sections joined to the rigid center portion having changing flexibility along the longitudinal axis of the stent, the end sections having greater radial flexibility at outer ends of the stent with the radial flexibility gradually decreasing toward the center portion. - View Dependent Claims (46)
-
-
47. An expandable, generally tubular, intraluminal stent, having two ends and a center portion, for insertion within the lumen of a vessel, comprising:
-
a. a plurality of end links disposed in a ring at each end of the tubular stent, a first end of each end link being connected to a second end of an adjacent end link, each end link having a first and a second leg joined at a fulcrum so that moment arms provided by the first and second legs permit flexibility of the stent to gradually decrease from the ends of the stent toward the center portion of the stent;
b. at least one rigid longitudinal strut oriented generally parallel to a central axis of the stent, the longitudinal strut extending from the ring of end links at one end of the stent to the ring of end links at the other end of the stent; and
c. at least one circumferential link attached to the longitudinal strut at about the center portion of the stent to permit the stent to expand upon deformation of the circumferential link from a first smaller diameter into a second larger diameter.
-
Specification