Highly flexible stent and method of manufacture
First Claim
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1. An implantable prosthesis comprising:
- a continuous helical winding having a plurality of circumferential sections circumscribing a longitudinal axis, which is cut by an orthogonal plane, from a first end to a second end to define a tube, the circumferential sections spaced apart along the axis; and
at least one bridge connecting each of the circumferential sections to an axially-spaced adjacent circumferential section, each circumferential section having undulations disposed about the tube, the undulations of each circumferential section having a strut connected to the bridge with a strut length greater than a strut length of all struts unconnected to the bridge,wherein the prosthesis is operable from a contracted state to an expanded state and wherein in the contracted state the bridge creates a circumferential offset between adjacent circumferential sections that when measured in the orthogonal plane is equal to the length of the bridge and in the expanded state the bridge maintains the circumferential offset.
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Abstract
Preferred embodiments of a stent with a high degree of flexibility are shown and described. The stent can include a continuous helical winding and at least one bridge. The continuous helical winding has a plurality of circumferential sections that circumscribe a longitudinal axis from a first end to a second end to define a tube. The circumferential sections are spaced apart along the axis. The at least one bridge is configured to connect one circumferential section to an axially-spaced adjacent circumferential section. The at least one bridge extends on a plane generally orthogonal with respect to the axis.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. An implantable prosthesis comprising:
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a continuous helical winding having a plurality of circumferential sections circumscribing a longitudinal axis, which is cut by an orthogonal plane, from a first end to a second end to define a tube, the circumferential sections spaced apart along the axis; and at least one bridge connecting each of the circumferential sections to an axially-spaced adjacent circumferential section, each circumferential section having undulations disposed about the tube, the undulations of each circumferential section having a strut connected to the bridge with a strut length greater than a strut length of all struts unconnected to the bridge, wherein the prosthesis is operable from a contracted state to an expanded state and wherein in the contracted state the bridge creates a circumferential offset between adjacent circumferential sections that when measured in the orthogonal plane is equal to the length of the bridge and in the expanded state the bridge maintains the circumferential offset. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An implantable prosthesis comprising:
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a continuous helical winding having a plurality of circumferential sections circumscribing a longitudinal axis, which is cut by an orthogonal plane, from a first end to a second end to define a tube, the circumferential sections spaced apart along the axis; and at least one bridge connecting each of the circumferential sections to an axially-spaced adjacent circumferential section, each circumferential section having undulations disposed about the tube, the undulations of each circumferential section having a strut connected to the bridge with a strut length greater than a strut length of all struts unconnected to the bridge, wherein the prosthesis is operable from a contracted state to an expanded state and wherein in the contracted state the bridge creates a circumferential offset between adjacent circumferential. sections that when measured in the orthogonal plane is equal to the length of the bridge and in the expanded state the bridge maintains the circumferential offset, a ratio of a number of struts about one circumferential section to a strut length in inches being greater than 800 per inch.
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Specification