Patent ID: 7691136
Filing Date: 2010-04-06
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A coated stent in combination with a device for crimping the coated stent and a system for protecting the coated stent during crimping, the combination comprising: a catheter, the catheter having a proximal end and a distal end; and a stent mounted on the distal end of the catheter, the stent coated with a coating, the coating positioned on an exposed surface of the stent, the stent adapted to be crimped on the catheter from a first configuration wherein the stent has a first diameter to a second configuration wherein the entire stent has a second diameter smaller than the first diameter; an encasing hollow deformable membrane, the membrane, in an unexpanded resting state, defining a cavity having a cross-section that is smaller than the external cross-section of the stent when the entire stent is in its second configuration; and a device for crimping the coated stent on the catheter from the first configuration to the second configuration; wherein the combination has a first positional arrangement while the stent is in the first configuration, wherein in the first positional arrangement the stent is covered by the membrane and is inserted in the crimping device, and wherein the combination has a second positional arrangement after the stent has been crimped to the second configuration, wherein in the second positional arrangement the stent remains covered by the membrane and the stent is no longer inserted in the crimping device; and wherein the membrane is adapted to be stretched to an expanded state to facilitate placing the membrane around the stent when the stent is in its first configuration and then released so that the membrane contracts around the stent.