Patent ID: 8608760

Claim:
A method for joining at least two non-conjoined lumens in a patient which method comprises: (a) placing a biocompatible phase-reversible sol-gel composition in a liquid phase or a gel phase in at least the distal portion of at least one of the lumens, which phase-reversible sol-gel composition is capable of phase transition from a liquid phase to a gel phase and from the gel phase to the liquid phase, wherein when the sol-gel composition is placed in the lumen in the liquid phase, a phase transition is induced wherein the liquid phase changes to the gel phase, and wherein the gel phase of the sol-gel composition provides structural support to said portion of the lumen; (b) aligning the lumens; (c) closing the aligned lumens to form a conduit; and (d) removing the sol-gel composition by inducing a phase transition of the sol-gel composition from the gel phase to the liquid phase thereby establishing flow through the conduit; wherein the phase-transition of the sol-gel composition is triggered by an stimulus selected from a change in temperature, a change in pH, a change in ionic strength, a change in pressure, a change in electric field, a change in magnetic field, a change in electron magnetic radiation, a change in light or ultraviolet light, a change in concentration, a change in osmolarity, and combinations thereof.