Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.

Rainier Beitelia

Kurt R Klemm

Farhad Khosravi

Lilip Lau

William M Hartigan

Michael S Williams

A rapid exchange catheter system provides a delivery vehicle to carry a stent through a patient's vasculature and deploy the stent after a protective sheath covering the stent has been withdrawn. In order to facilitate the rapid exchange of catheters and specifically the backloading of a catheter onto the proximal end of a guide wire, the catheter includes telescoping sleeves within the guide wire lumen that translate relative to each other as the sheath is retracted to expose the stent. The telescoping sleeves align the catheter and the sheath when the catheter is backloaded onto the distal extremity of the guide wire by aligning the guide wire notch of the catheter with an opening in the sheath thus providing a continuous guide wire passageway.

Rapid exchange delivery system for stenting a body lumen

The invention is directed to a stent delivery method and system which generally includes an elongated delivery sheath and a catheter disposed within an outer lumen of the sheath having an expandable member on its distal extremity. An expandable stent is mounted on the expandable member of the catheter. The distal portion of the sheath tapers down and is tucked within an elastic cone during transport of the stent to a damaged region. A manipulating device is provided on the proximal end of the delivery system to effect relative axial movement between the sheath and the catheter so as to expose the stent mounted on the expandable member on the catheter within a body lumen such as a coronary artery and allow the expansion of the stent by the expansion of the expandable member. The elastic cone thereby disengages from the sheath and collapses about the distal end of the catheter. An inner lumen extends within the catheter and slidably receives a guiding member such as a guidewire. This system allows the stent to be delivered over a guidewire previously advanced to the desired location within a body lumen.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Rainier Beitelia