Patent ID: 6325824
Filing Date: 2001-12-04
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A method for maintaining the patency of a body lumen, comprising:providing a substantially cylindrically-shaped stent having crush-resistant superelastic properties;implanting the stent in the body lumen;providing projections which form on an outer wall surface of the stent and thereby at least partially penetrate an inner wall surface of the body lumen, thus facilitating the attachment of the stent to the inner wall surface of the body lumen so that as an external force is applied to the body lumen, the stent will not migrate and the stent temporarily at least partially collapses, the stent returning to the substantially cylindrical shape to thereby maintain the patency of the body lumen when the external force is removed; andinducing formation of the projections through an isothermal phase transformation.