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:
Jan. 05, 1999
Filed:
May. 30, 1996
Michael Acciai, Newark Valley, NY (US);
Richard Ronald Hall, Endwell, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for forming a tubular article having a perforated annular wall, such as a surgical stent, includes coating the exterior and interior cylindrical surfaces of a tubular member with a photoresist, exposing selected portions of the photoresist coated surfaces to light, developing the coating, and then etching the coating to remove unexposed portions of the coating and immediate underlying portions of the annular wall, thereby forming a tubular article having a wall structure defined by a skeletal framework. An apparatus for exposing a light-sensitive coating to a tubular article includes means for rotating and translating the article with respect to a light source, along a longitudinal axis and simultaneously exposing aligned portions of the interior and exterior cylindrical surfaces of the tubular member. The method and apparatus embodying the present invention are particularly suitable for forming stents that support the walls of weak human arteries.