Angiomed Gmbh & Co. Medizintechnik Kg

C. R. Bard, Inc.

Heinz Kurz Gmbh Medizintechnik

Walter Gamer

Wolfgang Supper

Thomas Kirchhoff

Tarun J Edwin

Guido Koch

Richard W Layne

Sylvie Lombardi

Heinz Kurz

Uwe Steinhardt

Arne Briest

A stent having an axial end to which is attached a ring of spoons of a material different from that of the stent. In one aspect, the ring of spoons is connected to the axial end through a plurality of complementary male-female form-fitting portions. In one aspect, the ring of spoons include parallel straight side edges. In one aspect, each of the side edges lies within a first distance from a facing side edge of an adjacent spoon in a stent delivery configuration, and each of the side edges lies within a second distance, greater than the first distance, from the facing side edge of an adjacent spoon in a stent deployed configuration.

Implant with attached element and method of making such an implant

A tubular implant having an axial end to which is attached a ring of spoons of a material different from that of the implant. In another aspect, the invention provides a method of attaching elements to an axial end of a tubular implant comprising the steps of providing said elements on one end of a support tube having a radius substantially that of the implant in its unexpanded configuration, abutting the implant and elements end-to-end, fixing the elements to the implant, and parting the elements from the support tube. In a third aspect, the invention provides an implant carrying an element of another material, the element and implant having complementary tapered mating surfaces for achieving a taper form-fit of the element onto the implant.

A tubular implant having an axial end to which is attached a ring of spoons of a material different from that of the implant. In another aspect, the invention provides a method of attaching elements to an axial end of a tubular implant comprising the steps of providing said elements on one end of a support tube having a radius substantially that of the implant in its unexpanded configuration, abutting the implant and elements end-to-end, fixing the elements to the implant; and parting the elements from the support tube. In a third aspect, the invention provides an implant carrying an element of another material, the element and implant having complementary tapered mating surfaces for achieving a taper form fit of the element onto the implant.

An ossicular prosthesis has a first fastening element for connection to the tympanic membrane or a component of the ossicular chain, a second fastening element for connection to a further component of the ossicular chain, or directly to the inner ear, an elongated connecting element that connects the two fastening elements in a sound-conducting manner and includes an adjusting device for adjusting the axial length of the prosthesis and including at least two partial strands that extend symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the connecting element, are extendable and/or compressible in the axial direction, are permanently plastically deformable, and are folded into a plurality of loops transversely to the longitudinal axis before being deformed. As a result, a relatively simple design of the adjusting device considerably reduces the number of different prostheses that must be kept on hand, while ensuring that the prosthesis may be optimally adapted for a specific case.

Variable-length ossicular prosthesis

A flexible covered stent having a stent covered on a first surface by a first layer of biocompatible material and on a second surface by both a second and third layer of biocompatible material, the first and second layers and the first and third layers of biocompatible material being bonded to one another through openings in a wall in the stent. The first layer of biocompatible material is longer than both the second and third layers of biocompatible material such that at least a portion of the second surface of the stent is not covered by either second or third layer, imparting flexibility to the stent.

Covered stent with encapsulated ends

A flexible covered stent includes a stent covered on a first surface by a first layer of biocompatible material and on a second surface by a second layer of biocompatible material, the first and second layers of biocompatible material being bonded to one another through a wall in the stent. The first layer of biocompatible material is longer than the second layer of biocompatible material such that at least a portion of the second surface of the stent is left uncovered, imparting flexibility to the stent. A mid portion of the second surface of the stent can be left uncovered to impart flexibility to the stent similar to that enjoyed by a bare stent.

A portion of a covered stent is encapsulated with ePTFE, so that the unencapsulated portion, which is covered by a single ePTFE covering, imparts an unimpaired flexibility to the stent. One surface of the stent, either the luminal or abluminal surface, is covered by a single continuous layer of ePTFE, while limited regions, preferably near the ends of the stent, of the other surface are also covered by ePTFE. The regions covered by ePTFE on both surfaces become encapsulated when the ePTFE of one layer becomes bonded to second layer. By leaving a middle region of the stent unencapsulated, the stent retains flexibility similar to a bare stent, thereby reducing the loading and deployment forces.

A laser cut stent for transluminal delivery has windows in its cylindrical wall, the windows giving the stent enhanced flexibility during delivery along said lumen. A method of making such a stent involves removing from the wall of a tube enough material to leave the tube wall penetrated in a multiplicity of separate cut lines, in a pattern which permits the tube to expand. The tube is then expanded and then a plurality of tube wall scrap portions are removed from the tube wall between adjacent cut lines, thereby to introduce a plurality of spacings between adjacent stenting zones of the tube wall surface, these remaining after compression of the tube to a configuration to allow it to be advanced along a tortuous bodily lumen. Advantageously, the material of the tube is a shape memory alloy and the tube is for a self-expanding stent.

Method of making a stent

An auditory ossicles prosthesis has a head plate for abutment against an eardrum, and a shaft arranged on said head plate for bridging a tympanic cavity from the eardrum up to a stirrup or a stirrup footplate, and the head plate has a throughgoing passage through which the shaft can be pushed more or less so as to be cut at an opposite side of the head plate to a desired length, and then the passage is narrowed to fix the shaft in its final position.

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Bruchsal, Germany

Walter Gamer