Helical hybrid stent

Abstract

An expandable helical stent with a securement is provided. The stent is formed from flat or tubular metal in a helical coiled structure which has an undulating pattern. The main stent component may be formed of a single helically coiled component. Alternatively, a plurality of helically coiled ribbons may be used to form a stent heterogeneous in design, material, or other characteristic. The helical tubular structure may be secured with a securement, such as a weld, interlock or a polymer, to maintain the helical coils in a tubular configuration. The helical coils of the main stent component may be spaced apart or nestled to each other. The nestling of the undulation of adjacent helical coils contributes to maintaining the tubular shape of the helically coiled stent. In addition, the nestling of helical coils may prevent the polymer layer from sagging at any point between cycles of the helical coils.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates generally to stents, which are intraluminal implants implanted in a vessel (e.g., blood vessel) in the body to support the vessel and keep the vessel open or to secure or support other endoprostheses within the vessel. prosthetic device. Background technique [0002] Various scaffolds are known in the art. Typically, stents have a generally tubular shape and are expandable from a relatively small unexpanded diameter to a larger expanded diameter. For implantation, a stent is typically mounted on the end of a catheter, wherein the stent remains on the catheter in its small to relatively small unexpanded diameter. Using the catheter, the unexpanded stent is guided through the lumen to the desired implantation site. Once the stent is at the intended implantation site, the stent can be removed either by internal forces (e.g., by inflating a balloon inside the stent) or by allowing the stent to self-expand (e.g., by removing...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0007] Another problem that arises in the field is the ability to produce stents with uniformly high flexibility and adequate radial support when trying to simplify the stent manufacturing process to reduce costs but still prevent manufacturing defects

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