Claims
- 1. A method for manufacturing a body implantable thin film medical device, said method comprising:
providing a substrate; depositing a thin film of material onto the substrate; releasing the thin film of material from the substrate; and forming the thin film of material into a medical device.
- 2. The method of claim 1 comprising the further step of annealing the thin film of material.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the substrate is silicon; and the thin film of material is nitinol.
- 4. The method of claim 2 wherein:
the silicon is provided with a layer of silicon oxide, and the nitinol is deposited over the layer of silicon oxide; and the releasing step comprises providing a substrate etchant to dissolve the layer of silicon oxide.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the substrate comprises a material selected from the group consisting of highly polished metal, fluorite, silicon, glass, kapton film, a plastic, or a salt; and the thin film of material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of Elgiloy, tantalum, stainless steel, a metal or a polymer.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of depositing a thin film of material onto the substrate comprises sputter depositing a thin film of material onto the substrate, and wherein the method comprises the further steps of:
hipping the thin film of material; and thereafter cold working the thin film of material.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of cold working the thin film of material comprises pack rolling the thin film of material in at least one pass through a thin film roller.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming the thin film of material into a medical device comprises forming the thin film of material into a stent.
- 9. The method of claim 8 comprising the further step of providing the stent with a plurality of perforations.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the stent with a plurality of perforations comprises providing a plurality of partially sinusoidally curved perforations.
- 11. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the stent with a plurality of perforations comprises providing a plurality of crescent-shaped perforations.
- 12. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the stent with a plurality of perforations comprises providing the stent with a plurality of arcuate-shaped perforations.
- 13. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the stent with a plurality of perforations comprises providing the stent with a plurality of slots.
- 14. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the stent with a plurality of perforations comprises providing the stent with a plurality of perforations that are about 0.03 inches to about 0.07 inches apart radially and about 0.02634 inches apart longitudinally, and each perforation is about 0.00625 inches wide and about 0.06102 inches long.
- 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming the thin film of material into a medical device comprises the step of forming the thin film of material into a stent having a wrap length of about 6 millimeters to about 75 millimeters and a bridge length of about 2 millimeters to about 20 millimeters.
- 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming the thin film of material into a medical device comprises the step of forming the thin film of material into a rolled stent that, when unrolled, has a diameter of about 1 millimeter to about 6 millimeters.
RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/628,079 filed Jul. 28, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,919, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/118,729 filed Jul. 17, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,175.
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09628079 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
10382332 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09118729 |
Jul 1998 |
US |
Child |
09628079 |
Jul 2000 |
US |