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:
Aug. 03, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1998
Stephen A Morales, Mountain View, CA (US);
Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A stent crimping tool for firmly and uniformly crimping a stent onto a balloon catheter is constructed from a housing containing a silicone tube wherein the silicone tube is compressed by a thumb screw that is threaded into one end of the housing. The silicone tube has a passage containing a premounted uncrimped stent. The balloon catheter is inserted through the thumb screw and aligned with the stent inside the tube. Both ends of the silicone tubing are tapered and engage a tapered internal end inside the housing and a tapered recess inside the thumb screw. Advancing the thumb screw decreases the length of the silicone tubing and reshapes it so that the inside diameter of the passage decreases thereby crimping the stent onto the balloon. In an alternative embodiment, the opposite end of the housing is fitted with a second thumb screw. Further, the silicone tubing can be separated into two discrete segments by an annular washer located at a mid-point along the length of the silicone tube.