Helically formed stent/graft assembly

• US 20040024446A1
• Filed: 07/30/2003
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Scimed Life Systems Incorporated (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Scott
• Application Number:
  US10/630,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20040024446A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/1.22
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/07 Stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/88 the wire-like elements formed as helical or spiral coils forming a net-like or mesh-like structure A61F2/90
• 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 2220/0058 soldered or brazed or welded
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0075 sutured, ligatured or stitched, retained or tied with a rope, string, thread, wire or cable

Abstract

The present invention relates to a support structure/membrane composite device which includes a support structure, such as a radially expandable stent, a porous non-textile polymeric membrane adjacent to said stent and a thermoplastic anchor means attaching said stent to said porous non-textile polymeric membrane. The porous non-textile polymeric membrane is preferably made from expandable fluoropolymer materials. The anchoring means is a thermoplastic material which is dissolvable at the interface between the support structure and membrane by a suitable solvent which wets the membrane surface and deposits the thermoplastic material within the pores of the membrane. Methods of preparing the device are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A stent/graft composite device formed from a flat preformed planar strip and stent assembly comprising:

an elongate preformed non-textile planar strip of polymeric graft material having first and second opposed surfaces and a planar stent attached onto one of said opposed flat surfaces of said strip to form said flat strip assembly, said strip assembly being helically wound into a continuous tubular structure.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein successive helical windings creates an overlap defining a seam between an exterior surface of a first helical wind and a luminal surface of a subsequent helical wind.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein successive helical windings do not overlap.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a second elongate preformed planar strip of graft material, wherein said stent assembly is positioned between the two planar graft strips.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said planar graft strips are laminated together to form said strip assembly.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said polymeric graft material is selected from the group consisting of fluoropolymers, polyurethanes, silicones and mixtures thereof.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said polymeric graft material comprises ePTFE.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein said tubular structure has a generally circular cross-section.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein said planar stent comprises a plurality of stent wires.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein said planar stent comprises plurality of linked stent wires.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein said planar stent is comprised of nitinol.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein said planar stent comprises at least one planar stent wire.

13. The device of claim 1 wherein said planar stent comprises at least one planar ribbon stent.