Patent ID: 11904159
Assignee: ADVANCED NEUROMODULATION SYSTEMS, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  H | IPC A  H

Claim 0:
1. A method of forming a stimulation lead, the method comprising:
forming an implantable lead body, wherein forming the implantable lead body comprises:
helically winding at least one cable about a mandrel to form a coiled cable assembly in a first, restrained state, wherein helically winding the at least one cable includes applying a tensile force to the at least one cable as the at least one cable is wound about the mandrel;
restraining a first end of the at least one cable and a second end of the at least one cable, such that a length of the at least one cable defined between the first end and the second end remains fixed, and the coiled cable assembly remains in the restrained state;
removing the mandrel from the coiled cable assembly while still keeping the first and second ends of the at least one cable restrained, wherein the length of the at least one cable defined between the first and second ends remains the same prior to, during, and immediately after removal of the mandrel, thereby maintaining application of the same tensile force on the at least one cable;
releasing the tensile force from the at least one cable after the removal of the mandrel to allow the coiled cable assembly to release stored mechanical energy and transition from the restrained state to a second, relaxed state in which the coiled cable assembly is substantially free of stored mechanical energy; and
subjecting the lead body to a reflow process by applying heat to the lead body, wherein the tensile force is released prior to the lead body being subjected to the reflow process.