Covered stent with encapsulated ends
First Claim
1. An implantable prosthetic device, comprising:
- a stent having a luminal and an abluminal surface and a first and a second end;
a first tubular layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene covering the abluminal surface of the stent, wherein said first tubular layer does not cover a region immediately adjacent the first or the second end of the stent;
a second tubular layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene in contact with the luminal surface of the stent, wherein said second tubular layer does not cover a majority of the luminal surface of the stent, said second tubular layer comprising at least one ring disposed near the first or the second end of the stent; and
an encapsulated region wherein said first tubular layer bonds to said second tubular layer.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A portion of a covered stent is encapsulated with ePTFE, so that the unencapsulated portion, which is covered by a single ePTFE covering, imparts an unimpaired flexibility to the stent. One surface of the stent, either the luminal or abluminal surface, is covered by a single continuous layer of ePTFE, while limited regions, preferably near the ends of the stent, of the other surface are also covered by ePTFE. The regions covered by ePTFE on both surfaces become encapsulated when the ePTFE of one layer becomes bonded to second layer. By leaving a middle region of the stent unencapsulated, the stent retains flexibility similar to a bare stent, thereby reducing the loading and deployment forces.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. An implantable prosthetic device, comprising:
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a stent having a luminal and an abluminal surface and a first and a second end;
a first tubular layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene covering the abluminal surface of the stent, wherein said first tubular layer does not cover a region immediately adjacent the first or the second end of the stent;
a second tubular layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene in contact with the luminal surface of the stent, wherein said second tubular layer does not cover a majority of the luminal surface of the stent, said second tubular layer comprising at least one ring disposed near the first or the second end of the stent; and
an encapsulated region wherein said first tubular layer bonds to said second tubular layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A process for producing a flexible covered stent comprising the steps of:
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providing a stent having a stent length and luminal and abluminal surfaces;
placing a first tubular covering of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, having a first covering length, in contact with the abluminal surface of the stent so that a majority of the surface is covered thereby, but wherein a region immediately adjacent the first or the second end of the stent is left uncovered;
placing a second tubular covering of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, having a length substantially less than the first covering length, in contact with the luminal surface of the stent; and
forming an encapsulated region by bonding the first tubular covering to the second tubular covering and leaving a majority of the stent length unencapsulated. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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Specification