Patent ID: 8333786

Claim:
A method of treating a hollow anatomical structure (HAS) of a patient, the method comprising: percutaneously accessing the HAS; advancing a bioabsorbable fibrous body into the HAS in a downstream direction from the percutaneous access site, the body comprising: a plurality of loose, non-knit and non-woven fibers, each fiber being bulked in a generally radial direction, extending in a generally longitudinal direction, having a number of bends along the length thereof such that in a first state each fiber has a shorter length and a greater width than in a second state, each fiber also being formed from one or more bioabsorbable materials, the fibers having a first bioabsorption rate; and a bioabsorbable tether coupled to the fibrous body at a distal portion of the fibrous body, the tether extending longitudinally from the distal portion and along and substantially parallel to the fibrous body, the tether having a second bioabsorption rate that is different from the first bioabsorption rate; implanting the bioabsorbable fibrous body in the HAS such that a proximal portion of it, including a proximal portion of the tether, extends through and out of the HAS and the percutaneous access site to terminate outside the patient's body; uncompressing and expanding the bioabsorbable fibrous body through self-expansion of individual fibers by moving individual fibers to the first state from the second state in which individual fibers have a shorter length and a greater width than in the second state on account of each fiber having a number of bends along the length thereof; and occluding the HAS.