Patent ID: 6270521
Filing Date: 2001-08-07
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
In combination, 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 lumen through which the guide wire can be slideably moved, the balloon angioplasty catheter also having a distal tip which extends distal to the distal end of the balloon toward the distal end of the balloon angioplasty catheter, the distal tip having a proximal end and a distal end,a stent coaxially mounted around the inflatable balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter the stent having a proximal end and a distal end;a sheath generally in the form of a cylindrical tube that is coaxially located around the balloon angioplasty catheter with its coaxially mounted stent, 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, said sheath ultra-thin distal section being shrunk down onto the distal portion of the balloon angioplasty catheter including its coaxially mounted stent, 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 lies proximal to the balloon so that the stent can be radially expanded when the balloon is inflated; andsystem further comprising an elastomer securing tube having a proximal section and a distal section, the distal section being fixedly attached to the distal end of the distal tip and the proximal section of the elastomer securing tube being placed over the distal end of the ultra-thin section of the sheath.