Tubular medical endoprostheses
First Claim
1. A tubular prosthesis device for use within the body comprised at least in part of an elongated filament-form metal element adapted to be subjected to elastic deformation to enable the device to be forced into a characteristic deformed configuration during a stage of use and to elastically self-recover from said deformation when deformation forces are relieved, said filament-form metal element comprised of a core of a first metal of a first selected thickness and an intimately surrounding sheath of a second selected metal of a second thickness, said first metal being of a substantially higher radiopacity than that of said second metal, said second metal being substantially more elastic than said first metal, the metals in said filament-form metal element serving to enhance the radiopacity of said filament-form metal element to provide improved fluoroscopic or x-ray visualization of said filament-form metal element in said body while imparting sufficient elasticity to enable the filament-form metal element to elastically self-recover from said characteristic deformed configuration.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tubular prosthesis device for use within the body. The device includes, a metal filament material formed of metal outer member having an exposed outer surface and a core within the extended outer member formed of a different metal than the outer member. The core is secured within and substantially enclosed by the outer member. The device can be reduced to a small size for introduction into the body lumen and expandable to a sufficiently large size to engage the wall of the body lumen. Stents formed of composite wires are shown.
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Citations
55 Claims
- 1. A tubular prosthesis device for use within the body comprised at least in part of an elongated filament-form metal element adapted to be subjected to elastic deformation to enable the device to be forced into a characteristic deformed configuration during a stage of use and to elastically self-recover from said deformation when deformation forces are relieved, said filament-form metal element comprised of a core of a first metal of a first selected thickness and an intimately surrounding sheath of a second selected metal of a second thickness, said first metal being of a substantially higher radiopacity than that of said second metal, said second metal being substantially more elastic than said first metal, the metals in said filament-form metal element serving to enhance the radiopacity of said filament-form metal element to provide improved fluoroscopic or x-ray visualization of said filament-form metal element in said body while imparting sufficient elasticity to enable the filament-form metal element to elastically self-recover from said characteristic deformed configuration.
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25. A tubular prosthesis for use within the body comprised at least in part of an elongated filament-form metal element, said filament-form metal element being arranged in an overlapping pattern defining a tube and adapted to be subjected to elastic deformation to enable the device to be forced into a characteristic deformed configuration during a stage of use and to elastically self-recover from said deformation when deformation forces are relieved, said filament-form metal element having transverse cross-sectional dimension of about 0.0075 inch or less and being comprised of a core of a first metal of a first selected thickness and an intimately surrounding sheath of a second selected metal of a second thickness, said first metal being tantalum and having a substantially higher density and demonstrating characteristically substantially higher radiopacity than that of said second metal, said second metal being substantially more elastic than said first metal, the combined effect of said first and second metals in said filament-form metal element to provide improved fluoroscopic or x-ray visualization of said filament-form metal element in said body while imparting sufficient elasticity to enable the filament-form metal element to elastically self-recover from said characteristic deformed configuration.
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26. An implantable tubular medical stent, comprising:
a metal wire composed of multiple metal layers, including a first layer formed of a first metal and a second layer formed of a second metal, the first metal having a greater density than the second metal and the first layer being disposed inwardly of the second layer. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. An implantable tubular medical stent, comprising:
a metal wire composed of multiple metal layers, including a first layer formed of a first metal and a second layer formed of a second metal, the first metal having a greater density than the second metal and being selected from the group consisting of tantalum, platinum, tungsten and iridium, the first layer being disposed inwardly of the second layer. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
Specification