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. 26, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 28, 1999
Wulf Kock, Alzenau, DE;
Günter Herklotz, Bruchköbel, DE;
Matthias Frericks, Hanau, DE;
Jens Trötzschel, Bruchköbel, DE;
W. C. Heraeus GmbH & Co. KG, Hanau, DE;
Abstract
A radially expandable support structure is presented, for keeping open lumina within a body, in particular a blood vessel, having a tube-shaped structure that has at least two partial structures, with a wall surface that extends between a first and a second end, which has several cut out areas, in particular, slits, which are essentially oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube-shaped structure. At least one of the partial structures ( ) extend without interruption in the axial direction generally from the first end to the second end of the tube-shaped structure. A first partial structure ( ) can be expanded at least in the radial direction and has at least one radial-expansion component. The individual radial expansion components ( ) are arranged as a helix or in a helix shape. A second partial structure ( ) is generally almost rigid in the axial direction. The two partial structures ( ) are arranged in such a way that during the radial expansion of the tube-shaped structure, the second partial structure ( ) receives the longitudinal axial forces that arise.