Claims
- 1. A stent comprising a coiled wire comprising a plurality of coils, characterized in that said wire includes at least one section which is wound in one sense and at least one section which is wound in the opposite sense wherein the outer portion of at least some of the plurality of coils have a rigidity that is less than the rigidity of the inner portion of at least some of the plurality of coils, deployment of said stent taking place by tightly winding the stent onto a catheter and subsequently allowing the stent to resume its normal dimensions.
- 2. A stent as in claim 1 wherein said wire includes two sections with each of said sections representing substantially half of said wire.
- 3. A stent as in claim 1 wherein said wire includes at least two sections which are wound in one sense and at least two sections which are wound in the opposite sense.
- 4. A stent as in claim 1 wherein said wire includes a plurality of sections, each section being made up of substantially a single loop.
- 5. A stent as in claim 4 wherein the stent is connected to a flexible film to form a tube-like member.
- 6. The stent of claim 1, wherein, said wire is enveloped in a material shaped so that when the stent is fully deployed, portions of the envelope material occupy gaps between adjoining coils of the stent.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 09/362,285 filed Jul. 27, 1999, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/679,606 filed Jul. 11, 1996, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/297,275 filed Aug. 26, 1994 (abandoned), which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/029,493 filed Mar. 11, 1993 (abandoned).
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 282 175 |
Feb 1988 |
EP |
2 617 721 |
Aug 1988 |
FR |
1 540 432 |
Feb 1979 |
GB |
4-207935 |
Mar 1992 |
JP |
WO9116005 |
Oct 1991 |
WO |
WO 9222263 |
Dec 1992 |
WO |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
ASAIO Transaction, Jul./Sep. 1991, “Novel Airway Stent Using a Thermal Shape-Memory Ti-Ni Alloy”, pp. M319-M321, Tatsuo Nakamura, et al. |
Continuations (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/362285 |
Jul 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/519084 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/679606 |
Jul 1996 |
US |
Child |
09/362285 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/297275 |
Aug 1994 |
US |
Child |
08/679606 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/029493 |
Mar 1993 |
US |
Child |
08/297275 |
|
US |