Patent ID: 7300456

Claim:
A catheter system for delivery of a stent to a body lumen comprising: a stent delivery catheter comprising: a sheath having a first lumen; a shaft extending through the first lumen and slidable relative to the sheath; a stent bumper mounted to the shaft distally of the sheath and movable from a contracted shape to an expanded shape, wherein the stent comprises an inflatable balloon, and wherein the balloon comprises an elongate balloon having an axial length at least as long as two stent segments; a plurality of self-expanding stent segments carried within the first lumen in a collapsed configuration, the stent segments being adapted to resiliently expand from the collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration, wherein the stent segments are deployable from the first lumen so as to resiliently expand into the expanded, configuration, the stent bumper being expandable independently of the stent segments and configured in the expanded shape to engage a first stent segment during deployment thereof to maintain its position relative to an adjacent stent segment disposed proximal to the first stent segment; and an inner sheath disposed over the balloon, wherein the inner sheath is retractable to expose a portion of the balloon to allow it to be inflated from the contracted shape to the expanded shape.