Prosthesis (i.e. – artificial body members) – parts thereof – or ai – Arterial prosthesis – Stent structure
Patent
1983-12-07
1987-04-07
Apley, Richard J.
Prosthesis (i.e., artificial body members), parts thereof, or ai
Arterial prosthesis
Stent structure
623 12, 623 66, 128334R, 128335, 128343, 604281, 604282, A61F 206
Patent
active
046557717
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a prosthesis which can be applied within or replace part of for example blood vessels of the body of a living animal or a living human or in some other difficultly accessible place. The prosthesis includes a flexible tubular body, the diameter of which can be decreased or increased. The invention is particularly useful for mechanical transluminal implantation by means of an expanded self-fixating prosthesis for blood vessels, respiratory tracts or the like. By means of the device of the present invention also the inner walls of damaged blood vessels or other organs may be lined with artificial tissue.
In surgical and other medicinal tecniques there is sometimes a need of inserting and expanding a device in for example blood vessel, urinary tracts or other difficultly accessible places which has for its function to support the vessel or tract which can be left in a position.
The device according to the present invention can be used also in many medicinal applications and, as examples, there may be mentioned utilization in different types of aneurism reflected by some form of vessel widening, or the opposite, stenosis, which involves contraction of blood vessels. Thus, more specifically, the invention can be used to support and keep open vessels of venous systems, to close pathological vessel failures, to bridge pathological vessel dilatations and ruptures in interior vessel walls or to stabilize bronchial tubes and bronchi. The device according to the present invention may also be designed to act as a filter for thrombosis, for example by application in Vena Cava Inferior to prevent the formation of lung emboliae. The invention is particularly suited to be used as a prosthesis, for example a graft, for application in blood vessels or other tubular organs within the body. It should, however, be observed that the invention is not limited to the applications mentioned which must be considered as solely exemplifying.
BACKGROUND ART
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,956 there is described a device which after insertion into for example blood vessel may be expanded. The active part of this device is based on the use of metal alloys having so-called "memory function", i.e. a material which when heated will recover its initial configuration. In this prior art the heating of the material is provided by electrical heating, the device being inserted at the location of interest. However, this known technique possesses the essential disadvantage that electrical resistance heating must take place in connection to surrounding sensitive tissue which may be damaged in the heating. It is true that it is stated in the patent specification (cf. col. 3, lines 42-48) that when inserting the device into a blood vessel the patient's blood functions as a cooling medium. However, also blood is a heat-sensitive material which when heated can be subjected to undesirable coagulation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has for its purpose to provide a radially expansible and contractile prosthesis whereby the drawbacks of the known techniques are avoided.
The present invention is based on utilization of a prosthesis comprising a flexible tubular body the diameter of which can be changed by axial movement of the ends of the body relative to each other. In a preferred embodiment the body takes a radially expanded position by itself. When it is left in an unloaded condition free of external forces in radial direction. The body is composed of several individual rigid but flexible thread elements each of which extends in helix configuration with the center line of the body as a common axis. A number of elements have the same direction of winding but are displaced axially relative to each other. The said number of elements having the same direction of winding meet under crossing a number of thread elements also axially displaced to each other but having the opposite direction of winding.
To obtain the desired function the axially directed angle between crossing elements is suitably grea
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patent: 3509883 (1970-05-01), Dibelius
patent: 3822238 (1974-07-01), Blair et al.
patent: 3868956 (1975-03-01), Alfidi et al.
patent: 3993078 (1976-11-01), Bergentz et al.
patent: 4130904 (1978-11-01), Whalen
patent: 4140126 (1979-02-01), Choudhury
patent: 4441215 (1984-04-01), Kaster
Apley Richard J.
Cannon Alan W.
Shepherd Patents S.A.
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