Patent ID: 6733520
Filing Date: 2004-05-11
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A stent delivery system comprising:a catheter including a stent mounting region, the stent mounting region being inflatable from a first inflation state to a second inflation state; a stent disposed about the stent mounting region of the catheter, the stent having a distal end and a proximal end, the stent further having a first expanded state and a second expanded state, and at least one stent retaining sleeve, the at least one stent retaining sleeve having a first end and a second end, the first end overlying an end of the stent prior to the stent being placed in the second expanded state, the second end engaged to at least a portion of the catheter adjacent to the stent mounting region, the at least one stent retaining sleeve constructed and arranged to longitudinally foreshorten from a first predetermined length in the first inflation state to a second predetermined length in the second inflation state, the second predetermined length being more than 5 percent shorter than the first predetermined length, further wherein in the second inflation state the stent is in the second expanded state and the first end of the at least one stent retaining sleeve is retracted off of the stent thereby releasing the stent from the catheter, wherein the at least one sleeve is constructed from a combination of a matrix of a matrix material formed into a tube and a plurality of elongate stripes, the elongate stripes being made of a stripe material, each elongate stripe being engaged to the matrix, wherein no elongate stripe is interwoven with any other elongate stripe.