Angled Stent Crown Structure for Lift and Distortion Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stent designs face challenges in balancing characteristics such as radial strength, flexibility, and resistance to stent lifting and distortion, particularly when using thinner profile struts, which compromise stent retention and deliverability.
Innovation Solution
A stent design featuring angled and parallel outer crowns connected by struts at specific angles, with connections between bands, allowing for improved resistance to stent lifting and distortion while maintaining flexibility and deliverability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If thinner profile struts are used, then flexibility and deliverability are improved, but radial strength decreases and risk of stent lifting increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the stent structure by introducing specific crown angles (15-35 degrees) and angled strut configurations. This allows the stent to achieve improved deliverability through optimized geometry while maintaining radial strength through the angular reinforcement pattern that distributes mechanical loads effectively across the stent framework.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structural design combining thinner profile struts with strategically positioned angled struts and crown elements. This composite approach allows the majority of the stent to use thinner struts for flexibility, while the angled strut reinforcements provide localized radial strength where needed, effectively combining the benefits of both thin and thick strut regions.
2Ease of operation
If thinner profile struts are used, then flexibility is improved, but stent retention decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies structural parameters by introducing crowned elements at specific angles (15-35 degrees) and angled strut configurations that enhance the mechanical interlocking with the vessel wall. These geometric changes improve stent retention through increased radial projection and engagement while preserving the flexibility of thinner struts in non-critical regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent employs a composite structural approach where thinner flexible struts are combined with angled reinforcement struts and crowned elements. The thinner struts provide flexibility for navigation, while the angled struts and crowns create a composite structure that enhances retention through improved radial strength and vessel wall engagement at critical locations.
3Strength
If strut lengths are decreased to maintain radial strength with thinner struts, then overexpansion ability is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters by introducing angled strut configurations and specific crown angles (15-35 degrees) that optimize the force distribution during expansion. This allows shorter strut lengths to achieve the same radial strength as longer struts, while the angled configuration preserves the ability to undergo controlled overexpansion by distributing expansion forces more evenly across the stent structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite strut system combining shorter struts with angled reinforcement elements and crowned features. The shorter struts maintain radial strength through the composite action of multiple structural elements working together, while the angled configurations and crowns provide the necessary compliance and expansion capability, effectively decoupling the relationship between strut length and overexpansion ability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A stent in a radially compressed configuration includes a plurality of first outer crowns and a plurality of second outer crowns, each of the first outer crowns and the second outer crowns connected by a strut of a plurality of struts. The plurality of first outer crowns and the plurality of second outer crowns are disposed at a crown angle in the range of about 15 degrees to about 35 degrees, the crown angle being defined by a line extending through a midpoint of a crown of the plurality of first outer crowns or the plurality of second outer crowns through a center of radius of the crown with respect to a line that is parallel to a central longitudinal axis of the stent.