Apparatus and methods for delivery of variable length stents
First Claim
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1. A variable length stent deployment apparatus for use in a body vessel comprising:
- a flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end adapted for positioning in the vessel;
a stenting structure releasably held by the catheter body in an unexpanded configuration, the stenting structure having a total length and being movable from the unexpanded configuration to an expanded configuration adapted to engage a wall of the vessel; and
a deployment mechanism coupled to the catheter body adapted to apply a radially outward force along a selected length of the stenting structure to deploy a portion of the stenting structure having the selected length at one time, wherein the deployed portion having the selected length is released into the vessel in the expanded configuration while a remaining portion of the stenting structure unconnected to the deployed portion remains releasably held by the catheter body in the unexpanded configuration and wherein the deployment mechanism is coupled to an actuator at proximal end of the catheter body which allows the selected length that is expanded at one time to be varied from less than the total length up to substantially all of the total length while the catheter is positioned in the vessel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Blood vessels and other body lumens are stented using multiple, discreet stent structures, or continuous coiled or mesh stent structures. Stent structures may be balloon expandable or self-expanding and are delivered by a delivery catheter which is repositioned to spaced-apart delivery sights. By coating the stents with particular biologically active substances, hyperplasia within and between the implanted stents can be inhibited. An exemplary delivery catheter comprises a catheter body having a deployment mechanism for deploying one or more stents of selectable length into the vessel.
412 Citations
91 Claims
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1. A variable length stent deployment apparatus for use in a body vessel comprising:
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a flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end adapted for positioning in the vessel; a stenting structure releasably held by the catheter body in an unexpanded configuration, the stenting structure having a total length and being movable from the unexpanded configuration to an expanded configuration adapted to engage a wall of the vessel; and a deployment mechanism coupled to the catheter body adapted to apply a radially outward force along a selected length of the stenting structure to deploy a portion of the stenting structure having the selected length at one time, wherein the deployed portion having the selected length is released into the vessel in the expanded configuration while a remaining portion of the stenting structure unconnected to the deployed portion remains releasably held by the catheter body in the unexpanded configuration and wherein the deployment mechanism is coupled to an actuator at proximal end of the catheter body which allows the selected length that is expanded at one time to be varied from less than the total length up to substantially all of the total length while the catheter is positioned in the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A variable length stent deployment apparatus for use in a body vessel comprising:
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a flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end adapted for positioning in the vessel; a stenting structure releasably held by the catheter body in an unexpanded configuration, the stenting structure being movable from the unexpanded configuration to an expanded configuration adapted to engage a wall of the vessel; and a deployment mechanism coupled to the catheter body adapted to apply a radially outward force along a selected length of the stenting structure to deploy a portion of the stenting structuring having said length, wherein the deployed portion having said length is released into the vessel in the expanded configuration while a remaining portion of the stenting structure remains releasably held by the catheter body in the unexpanded configuration, wherein the stenting structure is continuous throughout the length thereof, and the deployment mechanism is adapted to engage a selected location alone said stenting structure to separate the portion of the stenting structure to be deployed from a remaining portion of the stenting structure. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of deploying a stent of selectable length in a vessel, the method comprising;
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endovascularly positioning a catheter in the vessel, the catheter having a distal end and stenting structure releasably disposed therein, the stenting structure having a total length; uncovering a portion of the stenting structure prior to deployment from the catheter; determining a desired stent length; while the catheter remains positioned in the vessel, adjusting the length of the uncovered portion to be at least equal to the desired stent length; and applying a radially outward force to the stenting structure to expand only the uncovered portion, wherein the uncovered portion expands at one time to engage a wall of the vessel and separates from any remaining portion of the stenting structure which remains covered in the catheter, and wherein the length of the uncovered portion which expands at one time may be varied from less than the total length up to substantially all of the total length while the catheter is positioned in the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67)
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66. A method of deploying a stent of selectable length in a vessel, the method comprising:
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endovascularly positioning a catheter in the vessel, the catheter having a distal end and a stenting structure releasably disposed therein; uncovering a portion of the stenting structure prior to deployment from the catheter; determining a desired stent length; adjusting the length of the uncovered portion to be at least equal to the desired stent length; and applying a radially outward force to the stent structure to expand only the uncovered portion from the catheter into the vessel, wherein the uncovered portion expands to engage a wall of the vessel while a remaining portion of the stenting structure remains covered in the catheter, wherein adjusting the length of the uncovered portion comprises engaging a valve member against the stenting structure to separate the uncovered portion from the covered portion of the stenting structure, and wherein a sheath is slidably disposed over the stenting structure, the valve member being disposed at a distal end of the sheath. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91)
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Specification