Patent ID: 6368339
Filing Date: 2002-04-09
Classification: A61B,A61F,B21F,D04C,D10B,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of forming a medical device for deployment in a channel in a patient's body, the device having a preset expanded configuration and a collapsed configuration enabling passage of the device through a catheter, comprising the steps of:a) providing a fabric formed of a plurality of strands having a first relative orientation with respect to one another, the strands being formed of a material which can be heat treated to substantially set a desired shape; b) generally conforming the fabric to an internal surface of a molding element to substantially define the device's expanded configuration; c) treating the fabric while conformed to the internal surface of the molding element to substantially set the strands in their expanded configuration; and d) removing the fabric from contact with the internal surface of the molding element, whereby the fabric defines a medical device which can be deformed into its collapsed configuration for passage through a catheter for deployment in a channel of a patient's body, and which substantially resumes its preset expanded configuration in such channel.