Claims
- 1. An endovascular graft system comprising:
- (a) a radially enlargeable, tape-reinforced tubular vascular graft made according to the following method:
- (i) providing a workpiece comprising:
- a tubular base graft having an outer surface and a hollow lumen extending longitudinally therethrough, said tubular base graft being formed substantially of a sintered fluoropolymer material; and
- reinforcement tape wound about the outer surface of said tubular base graft, said reinforcement tape comprising a film formed substantially of sintered fluoropolymer material; and
- (ii) radially shrinking said workpiece, thereby causing the graft to assume a radially shrunken state from which said graft may be subsequently radially enlarged; and
- (b) an anchoring apparatus for anchoring said graft to the wall of a blood vessel after the graft has been positioned endoluminally and radially expanded within the lumen of said blood vessel.
- 2. A method for endovascular implantation of the endovascular graft system of claim 1 into a blood vessel of a mammalian patient, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing an endovascular graft system according to claim 1;
- positioning an expansion apparatus within the lumen of the graft;
- inserting the graft, along with the expansion apparatus positioned therein, into the vasculature of the mammalian patient;
- advancing the graft through the vasculature, to the intended site of implantation;
- using the expansion apparatus to cause radial expansion of the graft;
- using the anchoring apparatus to anchor the radially expanded graft to the wall of the blood vessel within which said graft is positioned.
Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/423,762 filed on Apr. 17, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,373.
US Referenced Citations (24)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
423762 |
Apr 1995 |
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