Patent ID: 7967770

Claim:
A method of deploying a drainage device within the Papilla of Vater, where the drainage device is a biliary stent comprising a tubular member having proximal and distal ends, interior and exterior surfaces, a tubular member thickness between the interior and exterior surfaces, and a drainage lumen disposed within the interior surface between the proximal end and the distal end, the method comprising: inserting a wire guide into a body vessel and advancing a distal end of the wire guide to a point of treatment within the Papilla of Vater; inserting the drainage device into a body vessel in a linear configuration, the drainage device having a curvilinear portion of the tubular member resiliently moveable between the linear configuration and a bent configuration, the bent configuration comprising a pair of adjacent curvilinear bends in the tubular member bent in opposite directions with respect to one another and radially bisected by a hypothetical plane containing the longitudinal axis, the linear configuration being formed by extending the curvilinear portion of the drainage device along the longitudinal axis until the longitudinal axis is contained within the drainage lumen between the proximal end and the distal end, the curvilinear portion being extended along the longitudinal axis by disposing the wire guide through the drainage lumen of at least the curvilinear portion, the drainage device further comprising a substantially linear portion positioned proximal to the curvilinear portion when in the bent configuration; delivering the drainage device in the linear configuration to the point of treatment within the Papilla of Vater by advancing the drainage device along the wire guide; and deploying the drainage device at the point of treatment in the bent configuration with the pair of curvilinear bends securing the drainage device within the body vessel and permitting fluid to flow through the drainage lumen, where the drainage device is oriented so that bodily fluid passing through the drainage device enters the drainage lumen through the linear portion and exits the drainage lumen through the curvilinear portion.