Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc.

Dean Molloy

Gary Leanna

Paul K Norton

Michael E Zupkofska

Peter Brady

Gary Jordan

An open frame prosthesis is formed with looped end terminations at its proximal and distal ends. At one end of the prosthesis, the filaments or strands are welded together in pairs to form strand couplings. A plurality of loop segments are connected to the strand couplings, one loop segment for each pair of adjacent strand couplings. In one version of the prosthesis, strands at the opposite end are bent to form looped ends. In another version, loop segments are connected to pairs of strand couplings at both ends of the prosthesis. The loop segments can be connected to the couplings by welding, fusion bonds, or tubes, which are either crimped or heat shrunk.

Stents with attached looped ends

A system for intraluminally delivering and deploying stents and other prostheses includes an outer catheter, an inner catheter movable axially relative to the outer catheter, and an anchoring device mounted to a distal end region of the inner catheter. The anchoring device includes one or more control features that interact with a linking structure proximally disposed on the prosthesis, preferably including one or more loops. The control features and loops interact by surface engagement to anchor the prosthesis relative to the inner catheter in a nonfrictional manner, thus to maintain lower axial prosthesis deployment and retraction forces. In one version of the anchor, the control features extend radially outward from a sleeve. In another version, the control features are formed in respective recesses which also receive the loops or other linking structure.

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Pittsboro, NC, United States of America

Dean Molloy