Patent ID: 6736840
Filing Date: 2004-05-18
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A pre-deployment configuration for a primary stenting system for placing a stent within a stenosis of a vessel in a human body, the system comprising:a flexible guide wire; a balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal portion, the balloon angioplasty catheter having an inflatable balloon located at its distal portion, the inflatable balloon having a proximal end and a distal end, the balloon angioplasty catheter also having a flexible, gradually tapered distal tip having a distal end and a proximal end and also having a lumen through which the guide wire can be slideably moved, the gradually tapered distal tip having a tapered proximal portion and a tapered distal portion, both proximal and distal portions of the gradually tapered distal tip having a gradual taper; and a stent coaxially mounted around the inflatable balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter; a sheath generally in the form of an elongated cylinder that is coaxially located around the balloon angioplasty catheter, the sheath having a proximal section and an ultra-thin distal section, the proximal section of the sheath having a proximal end and a distal end, the ultra-thin distal section of the sheath having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the ultra-thin distal section of the sheath being fixedly attached to the distal end of the proximal section of the sheath, at least a portion of the ultra-thin distal section being shrunk onto the stent and also onto the tapered proximal portion of the gradually tapered distal tip, the sheath being adapted to be slideably retracted in a proximal direction so that the distal end of the ultra-thin section of the sheath can be placed proximal to the balloon so as to allow balloon expansion for radial expansion of stent.