Patent ID: 6899730

Claim:
A catheter-stent device for treating an intravascular lesion at a target site of a vessel, comprising (a) a catheter having proximal and distal ends, and an inner lumen extending therebetween, said catheter being guidable to place the distal catheter end at the target site, and (b) a stent, the stent having a length, an upstream end and a downstream end, adapted for advancement through the catheter in an upstream to downstream direction to the target site in a contracted stent condition, and with expulsion from the catheter, downstream end first, and radial expansion at the target site, to engage the wall of the vessel, the entirety of the stent forming a single conduit, said stent being formed of a continuous helical ribbon having a ribbon thickness effective to cover between 50% and 80% of a vessel region containing the length of the stent and having a bending-stiffness gradient along its length due to one or more of the following: (i) a gradient of ribbon width, greater ribbon width at the upstream end of the stent, and lesser ribbon width at the downstream end of the stent, and (ii) a gradient of size or number of openings formed in the continuous helical ribbon, greater opening area progressing in a downstream direction.