Claims
- 1. A method for delivering a stent to a blood vessel, said method comprising:
positioning a catheter carrying a stent within the blood vessel; inflating a balloon on the catheter to implant the stent; and activating a transducer on the catheter to deliver oscillatory waves into the blood vessel wall in the region of the stent.
- 2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the transducer is disposed within the balloon on the balloon catheter.
- 3. A method as in claim 2, wherein activating the transducer comprises transversely oscillating the transducer.
- 4. A catheter comprising:
a catheter body having a proximal and a distal end; an interface surface within the balloon; a transducer coupled to vibrate the interface surface; an inflatable balloon on the catheter body, proximate the interface surface; and a stent carried over the balloon.
- 5. A catheter as in claim 4, wherein the balloon is over the interface surface.
- 6. A catheter as in claim 5, wherein the transducer is coupled to longitudinally oscillate the interface surface.
- 7. A catheter as in claim 5, wherein the transducer is coupled to transversely oscillate the transducer.
- 8. A method as in claim 2, wherein activating the transducer comprises longitudinally oscillating the transducer.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/808,725 (Attorney Docket No. 17148-000720), filed Mar. 14, 2001, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/205,061 (Attorney Docket No. 017148-000710), filed on Dec. 4, 1998, which was a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/708,589 (Attorney Docket No. 17148-000700) filed on Sep. 5, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,218. The full disclosures of each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference.
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09808725 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10210426 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09205061 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
09808725 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
08708589 |
Sep 1996 |
US |
Child |
09205061 |
Dec 1998 |
US |