The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 17, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 24, 1996
Samuel Anthony Thompson, Wilmington, DE (US);
Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
A method for preparing a medical device having the steps: (1) treating an ionically crosslinked hydrogel to strip a substantial amount of the ionic crosslinks while retaining the hydrogel in a desired shape; and (2) ionically re-crosslinking the treated hydrogel of step (1) while retaining the hydrogel in the desired shape. In an exemplary embodiment, a ureteral stent is made by mounting a length of extruded calcium or barium alginate tubing onto a shaping jig and performing secondary shaping to form coil-shaped ends by soaking the mounted robing in a stirred potassium chloride bath, and then soaking it in a calcium chloride bath. The ends readily return after elastic deformation to their coil shapes, with the stent having a permanent memory imposed by the secondary shaping.