US5718159A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Process for manufacturing three-dimensional braided covered stent
Assignee: Lifeshield Sciences LLC
•
Filing: 1996-04-30
•
Granted: 1998-02-17
•
Expires: 2016-04-30
Abstract
Abstract A process is disclosed for making a prosthesis for intraluminal implantation. The prosthesis has a flexible tubular three-dimensionally braided structure of metal or polymeric monofilaments, and polymeric multifilament yarns. The prosthesis can be elastically deformed to reduce its diameter through axial elongation. The monofilaments and multifilament yarns are interbraided into axially spaced apart helices, concentric on a common central axis of the prosthesis. The monofilaments are selectively shaped before their interbraiding with the multifilament yarns, either by an age-hardening or other heat-setting stage, or a cold-working stage that controllably plastically deforms the strands. The shaped structural strands are arranged to impart to the prosthesis its nominal shape and resilience. The textile strands are braid into one or more layers of sheeting that reduce permeability and thereby enhance the utility of the prosthesis as a vascular graft. In an alternative embodiment cold-working process elastically and plastically deformable monofilaments are plastically deformed about shaping pulleys, then three-dimensionally braided to form the prosthesis.
Inventors
- 👤 Paul J. Thompson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 04:45
CPC Classifications
D; D04; D04C; D04C1/00; D04C1/06; A; A61; A61F; A61F2/00; A61F2/02; A61F2/04; A61F2/06; A61F2/82; A61F2/86; A61F2/90; D04C3/00; D04C3/02; D04C3/36; D04C3/40; A61F2/0077; A61F2/07; A61F2/95; A61F2002/072; A61F2210/00; A61F2210/0004; A61F2210/0076; A61F2220/00; A61F2220/0008; A61F2220/0016; A61F2240/00; A61F2240/001; A61F2250/00; A61F2250/0058; A61F2250/0067; A61F2250/0096; A61F2250/0098; D10; D10B; D10B2401/00; D10B2401/06; D10B2401/061; D10B2509/00; D10B2509/06
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 58
Claim 1
Independent Claim
125 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands while they remain separate from the textile strands to impart to each of the structural strands a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the textile strands and the altered structural strands into a three-dimensional integrated structure in which the structural strands together provide a tubular shape of the integrated structure and the textile strands form a textile sheeting supported by the structural strands and adapted to compliantly conform to changes from said tubular shape due to deformations of the structural strands.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
125 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands while they remain separate from the textile strands to impart to each of the structural strands a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the textile strands and the altered structural strands into a three-dimensional integrated structure in which the structural strands together provide a tubular shape of the integrated structure and the textile strands form a textile sheeting supported by the structural strands and adapted to compliantly conform to changes from said tubular shape due to deformations of the structural strands.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
34 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: said braiding includes forming the structural strands into a latticework, that supports said textile sheeting with the textile sheeting occupying interstices between adjacent structural strands of the latticework.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
43 words
The process of claim 2 further including: after said braiding, plastically deforming the latticework to reduce a diameter of the integrated structure while maintaining the structural strands below an activation temperature of the structural material, wherein said structural material is a recovery metal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least first and second discrete layers of the integrated structure.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The process of claim 4 wherein: said braiding further includes braiding at least one of the strands of the first layer into the second layer to interlock the first and second layers.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process of claim 4 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a higher proportion of finer strands into the first layer, whereby the first layer has a permeability greater than a permeability of the second layer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process of claim 4 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a greater proportion of said structural strands into said first layer as compared to the second layer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
23 words
The process of claim 4 wherein: said braiding includes interbraiding a plurality of absorbable strands with the structural strands and the textile strands.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The process of claim 8 wherein: said braiding further includes incorporating the absorbable strands primarily into said second layer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The process of claim 4 wherein: said braiding includes interbraiding a plurality of drug eluting strands with the structural strands and the textile strands.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process of claim 10 wherein: said braiding further includes incorporating the drug eluting strands primarily into said first layer.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
50 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: said structural material is thermally formable, and said altering includes winding the structural strands around a selectively sized and shaped mandrel, then heating the strands while so wound to a heat forming temperature to thermally impart to each structural strand its selected nominal shape.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: said braiding includes selectively orienting the structural strands to impart a predetermined configuration to the integrated structure based on the selected nominal shapes of the structural strands.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: the structural material is a metal, and said altering includes selectively plastically deforming the structural strands.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process of claim 14 wherein: said plastic deformation includes wrapping each of the strands about a rotatable pulley and maintaining the strand at a selected tension.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
18 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: said altering includes forming each of the structural strands into a helix.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
The process of claim 16 wherein: said braiding includes providing the structural strands as first and second sets of helices running in opposite directions, whereby the interstices of the resulting latticework are rhombic.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The process of claim 16 wherein: said braiding includes winding the helices in a single direction, whereby the interstices are helical.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
49 words
The process of claim 1 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least three discreet layers of the integrated structure including a medial layer including the structural strands, and first and second layers on opposite sides of the medial layer and consisting primarily of the textile strands.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
36 words
The process of claim 19 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a higher proportion of finer textile strands into the first layer, whereby the first layer has a permeability greater than a permeability of the second layer.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
97 words
A process for making a medical prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of strands for interbraiding at a braiding station, said strands including elastically and plastically deformable structural strands formed of metal and having an original nominal shape; moving said strands in concert toward a braiding station; while so moving said strands, controllably plastically deforming the structural strands to impart to each structural strand a selected nominal shape; and at said braiding station, braiding the strands into a three-dimensionally braided structure, and orienting the structural strands while braiding to impart a predetermined configuration to the three-dimensionally braided structure.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
97 words
A process for making a medical prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of strands for interbraiding at a braiding station, said strands including elastically and plastically deformable structural strands formed of metal and having an original nominal shape; moving said strands in concert toward a braiding station; while so moving said strands, controllably plastically deforming the structural strands to impart to each structural strand a selected nominal shape; and at said braiding station, braiding the strands into a three-dimensionally braided structure, and orienting the structural strands while braiding to impart a predetermined configuration to the three-dimensionally braided structure.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
39 words
The process of claim 21 wherein: said plastic deformation includes wrapping each of the structural strands about a rotatable pulley and maintaining the strand wrapped about its associated pulley and at a selected tension while so moving the strand.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process of claim 21 wherein: said strands further include a plurality of compliant textile strands, and said braiding the strands includes braiding the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the structural strands and occupying interstices between adjacent structural strands.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
97 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of a thermally formable structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands by winding the structural strands around a selectively sized and shaped mandrel, then heating the strands while so wound to a heat-forming temperature to thermally impart to each structural strand a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the altered structural strands and the textile strands into a three-dimensional integrated structure.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
97 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of a thermally formable structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands by winding the structural strands around a selectively sized and shaped mandrel, then heating the strands while so wound to a heat-forming temperature to thermally impart to each structural strand a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the altered structural strands and the textile strands into a three-dimensional integrated structure.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
39 words
The process of claim 24 wherein: said braiding includes forming the structural strands into a latticework, and forming the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the latticework and occupying interstices between adjacent structural strands of the latticework.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process of claim 24 wherein: said altering is accomplished while the structural strands remain separate from the textile strands.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
53 words
The process of claim 24 wherein: said structural strands together provide a predetermined shape of the integrated structure, and said braiding comprises braiding the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the structural strands and adapted to compliantly conform to changes from the predetermined shape due to deformations of the structural strands.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
24 words
The process of claim 24 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least first and second discrete layers of the integrated structure.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
32 words
The process of claim 28 wherein: said braiding further includes braiding at least one of the strands of the first layer into the second layer to interlock the first and second layers.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process of claim 28 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a higher proportion of finer strands into the first layer, whereby the first layer has a permeability greater than a permeability of the second layer.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
21 words
The process of claim 28 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a greater proportion of said structural strands into said first layer.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
49 words
The process of claim 24 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least three discreet layers of the integrated structure including a medial layer including the structural strands, and first and second layers on opposite sides of the medial layer and consisting primarily of the textile strands.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
108 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands to impart to each of the structural strands a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the structural strands and the textile strands into a layered structure having at least first and second discrete layers, in a manner to incorporate a higher proportion of finer strands into the first layer, whereby the first layer has a permeability greater than a permeability of the second layer.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
108 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands to impart to each of the structural strands a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the structural strands and the textile strands into a layered structure having at least first and second discrete layers, in a manner to incorporate a higher proportion of finer strands into the first layer, whereby the first layer has a permeability greater than a permeability of the second layer.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said altering is accomplished while the structural strands remain separate from the textile strands.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
53 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said structural strands together provide a predetermined shape of the woven structure, and said braiding comprises braiding the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the structural strands and adapted to compliantly conform to changes in the predetermined shape due to deformations of the structural strands.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
39 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said braiding includes forming the structural strands into a latticework, and forming the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the latticework and occupying interstices between adjacent structural strands of the latticework.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
32 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said braiding further includes braiding at least one of the strands of the first layer into the second layer to interlock the first and second layers.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
21 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a greater proportion of said structural strands into said first layer.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
50 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said structural material is thermally formable, and said shaping includes winding the structural strands around a selectively sized and shaped mandrel, then heating the strands while so wound to a heat forming temperature to thermally impart to each structural strand its selected nominal shape.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
33 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said braiding includes selectively orienting the structural strands to impart a predetermined configuration to the integrated structure based on the selected nominal shapes of the structural strands.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
22 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: the structural material is a metal, and said altering includes selectively plastically deforming the structural strands.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
49 words
The process of claim 33 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least three discreet layers of the integrated structure including a medial layer including the structural strands, and first and second layers on opposite sides of the medial layer and consisting primarily of the textile strands.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
111 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of structural material having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands to impart to each of the structural strands a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally interbraiding the textile strands and the altered structural strands into an integrated structure by forming the structural strands into a latticework that shapes the woven structure, and by forming the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the latticework, conforming to the latticework, and occupying interstices between adjacent structural strands of the latticework.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
111 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing a plurality of structural strands formed of structural material having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the structural strands to impart to each of the structural strands a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally interbraiding the textile strands and the altered structural strands into an integrated structure by forming the structural strands into a latticework that shapes the woven structure, and by forming the textile strands into a textile sheeting supported by the latticework, conforming to the latticework, and occupying interstices between adjacent structural strands of the latticework.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process of claim 43 wherein: said altering is accomplished while the structural strands remain separate from the textile strands.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
24 words
The process of claim 43 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least first and second discrete layers of the integrated structure.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
32 words
The process of claim 45 wherein: said braiding further includes braiding at least one of the strands of the first layer into the second layer to interlock the first and second layers.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process of claim 45 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a higher proportion of finer strands into the first layer, whereby the first layer has a permeability greater than a permeability of the second layer.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
21 words
The process of claim 45 wherein: said braiding includes incorporating a greater proportion of the structural strands into the first layer.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
49 words
The process of claim 43 wherein: said braiding includes braiding the strands into at least three discrete layers of the integrated structure including a medial layer including the structural strands, and first and second layers on opposite sides of the medial layer and consisting primarily of the textile strands.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process of claim 43 wherein: said altering includes plastically deforming the structural strands.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
49 words
The process of claim 43 wherein: said structural material is thermally formable, and said altering includes winding the structural strands around a selectively sized and shaped mandrel, then heating the strands while so wound to a heat-forming temperature to thermally impart to each structural strand its selected nominal shape.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
140 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing at least one structural strand formed of a structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the at least one structural strand while the at least one strand remains separate from the textile strands, to impart to each structural strand a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the textile strands and the at least one structural strand into an integrated structure in which the at least one structural strand provides a tubular shape of the integrated structure, and the textile strands form a textile sheeting supported by the at least one structural strand and adapted to compliantly conform to changes from the tubular shape due to deformations of the at least one structural strand.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
140 words
A process for making a prosthesis, including: providing at least one structural strand formed of a structural material and having an original nominal shape; providing a plurality of compliant textile strands; altering the at least one structural strand while the at least one strand remains separate from the textile strands, to impart to each structural strand a selected nominal shape in lieu of the original nominal shape; and after said altering, three-dimensionally braiding the textile strands and the at least one structural strand into an integrated structure in which the at least one structural strand provides a tubular shape of the integrated structure, and the textile strands form a textile sheeting supported by the at least one structural strand and adapted to compliantly conform to changes from the tubular shape due to deformations of the at least one structural strand.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-02-16 | 2001-08-18 | 2002-02-17 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-02-16 | 2005-08-18 | 2006-02-17 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-02-16 | 2009-08-18 | 2010-02-17 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |