Flexible expandable stent

• US 6,464,722 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2000
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Medinol Limited (Medinol USA Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Medinol Limited (Medinol USA Incorporated)
• Inventors: Pinchasik, Gregory, Israel, Henry Marshall
• Primary Examiner(s): Thaler, Michael H.
• Application Number:
  US09/725,630
• Publication Number:
  US 20010000043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• Field of Search: 606/1, 606/108, 606/191, 606/194, 606/195, 606/198, 623/11.1, 623/1.15, 623/1.16, 623/12, 623/1.17, 604/96
• US Class Current: 623/1.17
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/91 made from perforated sheet material or tubes, e.g. perforated by laser cuts or etched holes
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/915 with bands having a meander structure, adjacent bands being connected to each other
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/061 provided with means for allowing access to secondary lumens
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/91541 Adjacent bands are arranged out of phase
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/91558 connected peak to peak

Abstract

There is disclosed a stent for implanting in the body. The stent is formed of a tube having a patterned shape which has first and second meander patterns having axes extending in first and second directions. The first meander patterns can be formed into even and odd first meander patterns. The even and odd first meander patterns are 180 out of phase with each other and the odd patterns occur between every two even patterns. The second meander patterns are intertwined with the first meander patterns. The first and second directions can be orthogonal to each other. The second meander patterns can also be formed of even and odd patterns.

Claims

1. A balloon-expandable stent defining a longitudinal aperture, said stent comprising:

a plurality of flexible connected cells, each of said flexible cells comprising;

a) a first member having a longitudinal component having a first end and a second end;

b) a second member having a longitudinal component having a first end and a second end,

c) a third member having a longitudinal component having a first end and a second end;

d) a fourth member having a longitudinal component having a first end and a second end;

e) a first loop defining a first angle disposed between said first end of said first member and said first end of said second member;

f) a second loop defining a second angle disposed between said second end of said third member and said second end of said fourth member, and disposed generally opposite to said first loop so that said first angle and said second angle open toward each other;

g) a first flexible compensating member having a first end and a second end disposed between said first member and said third member, said first end of said first flexible compensating member coupled to said second end of said first member and said second end of said first flexible compensating member coupled to said first end of said third member, said first and said second ends disposed a variable longitudinal distance from each other;

h) a second flexible compensating member having a first end and a second end disposed between said second member and said fourth member, said first end of said second flexible compensating member coupled to said second end of said second member and said second end of said second flexible compensating member coupled to said first end of said fourth member, said first and said second ends disposed a variable longitudinal distance from each other, said first and said second flexible compensating member differentially extendable or compressible when said stent is bent in a curved direction away from the longitudinal axis of said aperture;

i) each of at least two members of said first, second, third and fourth members in each of said cells also being a first, second, third or fourth member of a longitudinally adjacent flexible cell; and

j) said first, said second, said third, and said fourth members and said first and said second loops, and said first and said second flexible compensating member disposed so that as said stent is balloon-expanded from a delivery diameter to a deployment diameter the distance between said first and said second flexible compensating member increases and the longitudinal component of said first, second, third and fourth members decreases while said first and said second loops remain generally opposite to one another, the ends of said first and said second flexible compensating member open so as to increase said variable longitudinal distance between said first and said second ends of said first flexible compensating member and so as to increase said variable longitudinal distance between said first and said second ends of said second flexible compensating member so as to compensate for the decreasing of the longitudinal component of said first, second, third, and fourth members and substantially lessen the foreshortening of said stent upon its expansion.

2. A stent according to claim 1, wherein the stent is provided with a coating.

3. A balloon-expandable stent, comprising:

at least two rows of longitudinally adjacent flexible cells disposed about the circumference of the stent, each of said cells having a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end and an upper end and a lower end, each of said cells comprising;

a first pair of members connected by an area of inflection generally disposed at said first longitudinal end of each of said cells;

a second pair of members connected by an area of inflection generally disposed at said second longitudinal end of each of said cells;

a first flexible compensating member disposed between said first and second pair of members at said upper end of each of said cells; and

a second flexible compensating member disposed between said first and second pair of members at said lower end of each of said cells,

each member in at least one of said first pair and said second pair of one flexible cell also being a member of said first pair or second pair of a longitudinally adjacent flexible cell,

wherein upon bending of the stent the flexible compensating members on the outside of the bend lengthen in the longitudinal direction and the flexible compensating members on the inside of the bend shorten in the longitudinal direction, and

wherein upon expansion of the stent by a balloon from a delivery diameter to a deployment diameter, the flexible compensating members lengthen in the longitudinal direction to compensate for the tendency of the stent to foreshorten.

4. A stent according to claim 3, wherein the stent is provided with a coating.

5. A flexible, balloon-expandable stent having a longitudinal axis, comprising:

a plurality of flexible cells, each of said flexible cells comprising;

a first pair of members connected by an area of inflection defining a right-facing loop;

a second pair of members connected by an area of inflection defining a left-facing loop that faces the right-facing loop;

a first flexible link connecting the top of said first pair of members to the top of said second pair of members; and

a second flexible link connecting the bottom of said first pair of members to the bottom of said second pair of members,

each member in at least one of said first pair and said second pair of one flexible cell also being a member of said first pair or second pair of a longitudinally adjacent flexible cell,

wherein said flexible cells are adapted so that said stent prior to expansion is bendable in substantially any direction without affecting the structural or functional integrity of said stent,

wherein said flexible cells are adapted so that upon the expansion of said stent by a balloon from a delivery diameter to a deployment diameter, said flexible links lengthen in the longitudinal direction to compensate for the tendency of said stent to foreshorten, and

wherein said flexible cells are further adapted to impart radial strength to said stent in an amount sufficient to support a lumen when said stent is expanded.

6. A stent according to claim 5, wherein the stent is provided with a coating.

7. A flexible, balloon-expandable stent having a longitudinal axis, comprising:

a plurality of flexible cells, each of said flexible cells comprising;

a first pair of members connected by an area of inflection defining a right-facing loop;

a second pair of members connected by an area of inflection defining a left-facing loop that faces the right-facing loop;

a first flexible link connecting the top of said first pair of members to the top of said second pair of members; and

a second flexible link connecting the bottom of said first pair of members to the bottom of said second pair of members,

each member in at least one of said first pair and said second pair of one flexible cell also being a member of said first pair or second pair of a longitudinally adjacent flexible cell,

wherein said flexible cells are adapted so that said stent prior to expansion is bendable in substantially any direction without affecting the structural or functional integrity of said stent,

wherein said flexible cells are adapted so that upon the expansion of said stent by a balloon from a delivery diameter to a deployment diameter, said first and second pairs of members shorten in a longitudinal direction and said flexible links lengthen in the longitudinal direction to compensate for said first and second pairs of members shortening in the longitudinal direction and for the tendency of said stent to foreshorten, and

wherein said flexible cells are further adapted to impart radial strength to said stent in an amount sufficient to support a lumen when said stent is expanded.

8. A stent according to claim 7, wherein the stent is provided with a coating.