Appliance to be implanted and a device for handling the appliance to be implanted

• US 6,471,722 B1
• Filed: 08/09/2000
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• 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): O'Connor, Cary E.
• Application Number:
  US09/635,706
• Time in Patent Office: 811 Days
• Field of Search: 623/1.11, 623/1.12, 623/1.15, 623/1.32, 623/1.33, 623/1.28, 623/1.29, 623/1.35, 623/1.16, 623/1.13, 623/1.23
• US Class Current: 623/1.35
• 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 2/97 the outer sleeve being splittable
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/065 Y-shaped blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/072 Encapsulated stents, e.g. wire or whole stent embedded in lining
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/075 the stent being loosely attached to the graft material, e.g. by stitching
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9505 having retaining means other than an outer sleeve, e.g. male-female connector between stent and instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/9511 the retaining means being filaments or wires
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/903 Blood vessel

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. An appliance to be implanted comprising a front end wire ring, rear end wire rings arranged facing to the front end wire ring, a bifurcated tubular cover which connects the front end wire ring and the rear end wire rings, and an intermediate wire ring arranged between the front end rear end wire rings, in which each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, and characterized by that each of the wire rings can be folded into a wavy shape with forming forwardly directed peaks and the bottoms of forwardly directed valleys alternatively and repeatedly.

2. An appliance to be implanted comprising two appliances, each of which comprises 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, wherein each of the wire rings is given flexibly foldable elasticity, and characterized by that the front end wire ring of the appliance arranged downstream locates in front of the rear end wire ring of the appliance arranged upstream so that the appliances are connected with each other partially overlapped at an adjacent position.

3. The appliance to be implanted, described in claim 2 and characterized by that the appliance arranged downstream has a diameter which is smaller than that of the appliance arranged upstream and that the appliance arranged downstream is partially and fittedly inserted into the appliance arranged upstream.