Patent ID: 6165211
Filing Date: 2000-12-26
Classification: A61F,A61L,B29C,B29D,B29K

Abstract:
An expandable prosthesis comprising:(a) a discontinuous wall defining a lumen adapted to assume a longitudinally contracted position and a longitudinally expanded position; and(b) at least one layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene defining spaced-apart nodes interconnected by longitudinally directed fibrils, said nodes having a first average longitudinal inter-nodule distance in a free state, the layer of polytetrafluoroethylene affixed to the wall such that it has a second average longitudinal inter-nodule distance when the wall is in the longitudinally contracted position, the second average longitudinal inter-nodule distance being less than the first average longitudinal inter-nodule distance, said longitudinally directed fibrils being extended in said free state and being folded in said longitudinally contracted state.