Claims
- 1. A method for delivering a stent to a blood vessel, said method comprising:
positioning a stent within the blood vessel; inflating a balloon within the blood vessel to implant the stent; and activating a transducer to deliver oscillatory waves into the blood vessel wall in the region of the stent.
- 2. A method as in claim 1, wherein positioning comprises delivering the stent on a balloon catheter having the transducer thereon.
- 3. A method as in claim 2, wherein the transducer is within the balloon on the balloon catheter.
- 4. A method as in claim 3, wherein activating the transducer comprises transversely oscillating the transducer.
- 5. 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.
- 6. A catheter as in claim 5, wherein the balloon is over the interface surface.
- 7. A catheter as in claim 6, wherein the transducer is coupled to longitudinally oscillate the interface surface.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/205,601, filed on Dec. 4, 1998, which was a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/708,589, 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 (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09205601 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
09808725 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08708589 |
Sep 1996 |
US |
Child |
09205601 |
Dec 1998 |
US |