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

• US 6,270,520 B1
• Filed: 05/13/1999
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• 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): WEHNER, CARY ELLEN
• Application Number:
  US09/310,980
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• Field of Search: 623/1.15, 623/1-2-, 623/1.28, 623/1.11, 623/1.12
• US Class Current: 623/1.11
• 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 2002/065 Y-shaped blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/075 the stent being loosely attached to the graft material, e.g. by stitching
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 the retaining means being filaments or wires

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 means 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. A method of collapsing an appliance to be implanted comprising a front end wire ring, a rear end wire ring arranged facing to the front end wire ring, a tubular cover which connects the front and rear end wire rings, and an intermediate wire ring arranged between the front and rear end wire rings, in which each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, said method comprising:

folding each of the wire rings into a wavy folded shape forming forwardly directed peaks and bottoms of forwardly directed valleys alternatively and repeatedly;

tying each of the wire rings by a string with a portion formed into a loop; and

inserting and passing a retaining rod through said loops so as to keep each of the wire rings in a collapsed condition.

2. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1, wherein said retaining rod comprises a tube and a wire which is inserted into and passed through the tube and that after each of the wire rings is placed in a collapsed condition the tube is pulled out so as to keep the collapsed condition by the wire alone.

3. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 2, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

4. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1, wherein:

a pair of strings, each of which has a loop at a tip thereof, are provided for each of the wire rings respectively,

the strings are engaged with either one of a respective wire ring or the tubular cover, and one string of each pair of strings is wound around its respective wire ring clockwise until it reaches backward of the respective wire ring while the other string is wound around the respective wire ring counterclockwise until it reaches backward of the respective wire ring, h retaining rod is passed through a part at which each of the loops overlaps, and

each of the strings is tied to the other of the pair so as to keep each of the wire rings in a collapsed condition.

5. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 4, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

6. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1 each of said strings is a continuous part of a single string element and one end of said string element is fixed to the appliance and the other end thereof is wound around the retaining rod and turned clockwise and counterclockwise alternatively so as to keep each of the wire rings in a collapsed condition and said other end of the string element is fixed to another portion of the appliance to be implanted.

7. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 6, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front, rear and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

8. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 1, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front, rear and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

9. The method of collapsing the appliance to be implanted, described in claim 8, wherein said film member is a bag-shaped member in which a whole of each wire ring is wrapped up and one end of said film member is attached to the cover almost to surround the outer circumference thereof so as to allow each of the wire rings to make a back and forth movement by making use of a transformation of the film member.

10. An appliance to be implanted comprising a front end wire ring, a rear end wire ring arranged facing to the front end wire ring, a tubular cover which connects the front and rear end wire rings, and an intermediate wire ring arranged between the front and rear end wire rings, in which each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, wherein:

each of the wire rings is folded into a wavy folded shape forming forwardly directed peaks and bottoms of forwardly directed valleys alternatively and repeatedly;

each of the wire rings is tied by a string with a portion formed into a loop; and

a retaining rod is inserted and passed through said loops so as to keep each of the wire rings in a collapsed condition.

11. An appliance according to claim 10 said retaining rod comprises a tube and a wire which is inserted into and passed through the tube and that after each of the wire rings is placed in a collapsed condition the tube can be pulled out so as to keep the collapsed condition by the wire alone.

12. An appliance according to claim 11, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front ends rear end and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

13. An appliance according to claim 10, wherein

a pair of strings each of which has a loop at a tip thereof are provided for each of the wire rings respectively,

the strings are engaged with either one of a respective wire ring or the tubular cover, and one string of each pair of strings is wound around its respective wire ring clockwise until it reaches backward of the respective wire ring while the other string is wound around the respective wire ring counterclockwise until it reaches backward of the respective wire ring,

the retaining rod is passed through a part at which each of the loops overlaps, and

each of the strings is tied to the other of the pair so as to keep each of the wire rings in a collapsed condition.

14. An appliance according to claim 13, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

15. An appliance according to claim 10 each of said strings is a continuous part of a single string element and one end of said string element is fixed to the appliance and the other end thereof is wound around the retaining rod and turned clockwise and counterclockwise alternatively so as to keep each of the wire rings in a collapsed condition and said other end of the string element is fixed to another portion of the appliance to be implanted.

16. An appliance according to claim 15, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least interdediate wire rings adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

17. An appliance according to claim 10, wherein the appliance to be implanted has an arrangement in which each of the front and rear end wire rings and at least intermediate wire rings arranged adjacent to the front and rear end wire rings are connected with the cover through a film member so that said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings can make a back and forth movement relative to the cover within a certain range and wherein a ring shaped gap formed between said front end, rear end and intermediate wire rings and the cover is liquid-tightly sealed.

18. An appliance according to claim 10, wherein said film member is a bag-shaped member in which a whole of each wire ring is wrapped up and one end of said film member is attached to the cover almost to surround the outer circumference thereof so as to allow each of the wire rings to make a back and forth movement by making use of a transformation of the film member.