Stent for angioplasty

Details Stent for angioplasty Stent for angioplasty

1998-04-29

2001-12-04

Willse, David H. (Department: 3738)

Prosthesis (i.e., artificial body members), parts thereof, or ai

Arterial prosthesis

Stent structure

C606S194000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06325821

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally concerns stents for angioplasty.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The term “stent” is intended to indicate in general those devices intended for endoluminal application (for example, in a blood vessel), usually effected by means of catheterization, with subsequent deployment in place so as to achieve local support of the lumen. The primary purpose of this is to eliminate and avoid the restenosis of the treated area. It is moreover noted that it has already been proposed in the art to use substantially similar structures in order to achieve the deployment and anchorage in situ of vascular grafts; naturally, this possible extension of the field of application is also to be understood as being included within the scope of the invention.
For a general review of vascular stents, reference may usefully be made to the work “Textbook of Interventional Cardiology” edited by Eric J Topol, W. B. Saunders Company, 1994 and, in particular, to section IV of volume II, entitled “Coronary Stenting”.
Many patent documents have addressed this issue as shown, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,569; U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,507; U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,337; U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,882; U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,003; U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,516; U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,062; U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,336; and EP-A-0 201 466.
Notwithstanding the extensive research and experimentation, as documented at the patent level, only a relatively small number of operative solutions have, until now, found practical application. This is due to various factors, among which the following problems or requirements may be mentioned:
ensuring that, while moving towards the treatment site, the stent is capable of adapting with sufficient malleability to the path taken, even as regards less curved sections such as those which may exist, for example, in some peripheral vessels; all of this without detrimentally affecting the ability of the stent to provide an effective support action once positioned and deployed;
avoiding, or at least limiting, the longitudinal shortening effect which occurs in many stents on deployment,
achieving the maximum homogeneity and uniformity in the expansion movement, avoiding (when this is not a required effect) a situation in which this movement manifests itself to an extent and at times which vary in different areas or sections of the stent;
providing the wall of the lumen which is being supported with a support surface that is as extensive as possible;
avoiding the origination of complex shapes and/or possible stagnation sites susceptible, especially in blood vessels, of giving rise to negative phenomena such as coagulation, thrombosis, etc.; and
reconciling the requirements described above with the modality and criteria of simple production, reliability and the introduction of currently available technology.
The present invention, having the characteristics referred to specifically in the following claims, has the object of resolving, at least in part, the problems outlined above. To this end, the solution according to the present invention is capable of being integrated with at least some of the solutions described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/964,158; 08/987,365; 08/997,597; 09/004,376, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference, and in the Italian patent application No. TO96A000655 all of which are assigned to the same assignee of the present application.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is a stent for angioplasty comprising a body (
1
) in the form of a generally tubular envelope capable of being dilated from a radially-contracted position to a radially-expanded position, wherein the body includes a plurality of successive segments (
2
) having a serpentine-like shape with opposite loop parts in sequence; the loop parts being connected by connector parts (
4
); and the successive segments (
2
) are connected to each other by bridge elements (
3
) joined to the connector parts (
4
). The bridge elements may have an inflexible median portion and/or a general V-shape. In preferred embodiments, the bridge elements are convex along the periphery of the stent or have opposite, sequential convexity along the periphery of the stent. When the stent is in the radially-contracted position, the connector parts (
4
) may extend in a generally longitudinal direction (z) with respect to the stent; and the bridge elements (
3
) may have end parts (
3
a
) which, when the stent is in the radially-contracted position, extend in a transverse direction with respect to the stent.
In another preferred embodiment, the connector parts (
4
) may extend in a generally oblique direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the stent and are substantially unchanged following the dilatation of the stent from the radially-contracted position to the radially-expanded position.
Further, the bridge elements (
3
) may have end parts (
3
a
) joined to the connector parts (
4
) in a generally oblique direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the stent (
1
), these also being substantially unchanged following the dilatation of the stent. At least some of the connector parts (
4
) may be joined to associated pairs of bridge elements (
3
) connecting successive segments (
2
) in the plurality in a general cross-shape. In the radially-contracted position, the loop parts may have apex parts (
2
a
) which extend along an approximately lobe-shape path.


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