Opinion ID: 4532063
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Elliot

Text: Entitled “Implantable Prosthesis with Displaceab[l]e Skirt,” U.S. Application Publication No. 2003/0236567 (“Elliot”) relates to “tubular prostheses, including, but not limited to, endovascular grafts and stent[ ]grafts, for maintaining patency of blood vessels and treating aneurysms (e.g., aortic aneurysms), and tubular conduits for maintaining patency in other bodily passageways.” J.A. 1710. Elliot discloses an “implantable prosthesis” with “a radially expandable tubular body and at least one skirt extending therefrom.” J.A. 1702. The prosthesis “is positioned to bypass the aneurysm . . . being in contiguous contact with the healthy portions of the aorta.” J.A. 1710. The prosthesis has “at least one skirt . . . (which may be formed in various geometric configurations)” such that its “peripheral edge . . . is free and displaceable to a greater diameter than the diameter of the tubular body[.]” J.A. 1712; see J.A. 1704 (Figs. 2a, 2b), 1705 (Figs. 3b, 3c), 1707 (Figs. 5b, 5d), 1708 (Fig. 7). The skirt may “be displaced to contact, and form a seal with a surrounding wall,” “respond[ing] to” Case: 18-2004 Document: 104-2 Page: 6 Filed: 04/27/2020 6 BOSTON SCIENTIFIC SCIMED, INC. v. IANCU “[i]rregularities and/or wall displacement . . . [to] minimize[e] endoleaks about the prosthesis.” J.A. 1712. Elliot teaches that, once the prosthesis is in position, the skirt or skirts on the prosthesis may inhibit certain “failures in the form of endoleaks,” in particular, “leaks between the vascular prosthesis and the vessel wall.” J.A. 1710. Elliot explains that such endoleaks may be caused by the “continual expansion of [part of] the aneurysm” or by an imperfect fit between the “circular prosthe[sis]” and the “non-circular aortic lumens” due to “irregular vessel formation and/or [the] calcified topography of the [aortic] lumen[.]” J.A. 1710. Elliot teaches that its “skirt may be used to inhibit [such] endoleaks upon its selective displacement in response to irregular aortic shaping and/or aneurysm neck expansion.” J.A. 1710. “The skirt may actively inhibit [such] endoleaks by forming a physical barrier against flow between the tubular body and the aortic wall” and “may passively inhibit [such] endoleak formation by sufficiently restricting blood flow to allow coagulation and clot formation” that may also “act as a barrier against endoleakage.” J.A. 1710.