Patent ID: 8603157

Claim:
A method of treating a vascular bifurcation of a main vessel into first and second branch vessels, comprising the steps of: providing a delivery catheter carrying a first stent, the first stent having an upstream end, a downstream end, and a single central lumen extending therebetween, wherein the first stent is self-expandable, wherein the first stent is configured to be unattached to any other stent when the catheter is withdrawn from the main vessel, and wherein the upstream end has a smaller diameter than the downstream end when the first stent is expanded and unconstrained, the upstream end positioned proximal relative to the downstream end on the delivery catheter; positioning the delivery catheter such that the first stent is at a treatment site within the main vessel and the downstream end is adjacent to the branch vessels; and deploying the first stent in the main vessel such that the first stent self expands to a configuration in which the upstream end of the first stent has a smaller diameter than the downstream end of the first stent, and in which the downstream end communicates with both the first and second branch vessels.