Radially expandable support device
US5931867A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 24, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 3, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 24, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61M2025/0253
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A radially expandable support structure for holding open lumina within a body, especially in a blood vessel, has a tube-shaped body with a wall surface extending between a first and a second end which is formed from elongate members connected to each other. The elongate members include a first group of members which extend essentially in a longitudinal direction of the tube-shaped body, such that adjacent members of this first group are connected in pairs to each other at their ends to form a member pair which encloses a slit. These member pairs are connected approximately in the middle of their longitudinal extension to member pairs arranged adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction of the tube-shaped body to form a ring which surrounds the longitudinal axis of the tube-shaped body, and several rings connected to each other at the ends of the slits are arranged along the longitudinal axis of the tube-shaped body. In order to greatly decrease a reduction in length during the expansion of the support structure, the rings are connected to each other by a second group of elongate members, and each slit of a respective ring, as seen in the circumferential direction of the t…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.