Patent ID: 8231667

Claim:
An apparatus for treating an area of bifurcation where a principal body conduit separates into at least two secondary conduits and wherein the principal conduit increases in cross section to the junction with the multiple conduits, said apparatus comprising: a radially expandable first stent body configured to be engaged in the primary conduit in the area of bifurcation, said first stent body having, in a predetermined fully expanded state, a substantially conical shape and a first, downstream end having a diameter at least 105% of the diameter of a second, upstream end, and a cross section substantially greater than a cross section of one of the secondary conduits; the first stent body being shaped to conform to the increasing cross section of the principal conduit, in the area of a widened transitional zone of the bifurcation that separates the principal conduit from the secondary conduits, in the direction of at least one secondary conduit, said first stent body having a plurality of struts that extend in a longitudinal direction from the first stent body, wherein struts at the first, downstream end have a greater length than struts at the second, upstream end, said first, downstream end configured to be positioned downstream with respect to said second, upstream end and configured to open out in the direction of said secondary conduits upon expansion, and said second, upstream end configured to be positioned upstream with respect to said bifurcation, the first, downstream end being substantially conical and the second, upstream end being substantially cylindrical, the diameter of the second, upstream end substantially greater than the diameter of the principal conduit, the first stent body being shaped to be independent of any other stent bodies, and free of any means for connecting to any other stent bodies, when the first stent body is in a predetermined fully expanded state.