[54] PULL APART COIL STENT
[75] Inventor: Rodney W. Bosley, Jr., Bloomington, Ind.
[73] Assignee: Vance Products Inc., Spencer, Ind.
[21] Appl. No.: 377,030
[22] Filed: Jan. 20, 199S
[51] Int. CI.6 A61F 2/06
[52] U.S. CI 623/1; 623/12; 606/156;
606/191
[58] Field of Search 623/1, 11, 12;
606/151, 153, 155, 156, 191, 197, 199
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,562,820 2/1971 Braun 623/1
3,833,940 9/1974 Hartenbach 606/155
3,993,078 11/1976 Bergentz et al 623/1
4,503,569 3/1985 Dotter.
4,580,568 4/1986 Gianturco .
4,601,713 7/1986 Fuqua.
4,710,181 12/1987 Fuqua.
4,738,666 4/1988 Fuqua.
4,739,762 4/1988 Palmaz .
4,820,298 4/1989 Leveen et al. .
4,907,336 4/1990 Gianturco .
5,098,374 3/1992 Othel-Jacobsen et al. .
5,100,429 3/1992 Sinofsky et al 606/195
5,222,971 6/1993 Willard et al 606/198
5,242,451 9/1993 Haradaetal 623/12
5,246,445 9/1993 Yachia et al 623/1
A stent (10) adapted for placement in a body lumen (50) such as the urethra, ureters, common bile duct, vagina, cervix, fallopian tubes, sinus tract, rectum, bowel, esophagus or vascular system is configured as a coil (14) whose adjacent loops (12) can be pulled apart for removing the stent (10) from the body lumen (50). More particularly, the loops (12) abut one another but are not compressed, and adjacent coil loops are detachably secured to one another to yield a resilient configuration (17) of generally fixed dimension. The stent (10) is substantially imperforate between adjacent coil loops (12), so as to prevent tissue ingrowth or intrusion between them and obviate any interference with removal of the stent (10). Removal of the stent (10) from the body lumen (50) is achieved by detachment of adjacent coil loops (12) from one another. The adjacent coil loops (12) can be secured to one another directly during their curing, or by a separate layer of silicone adhesive (20). Indeed, a separate layer of silicone adhesive (20) can be applied to selectively adjust the parting strength of adjacent coil loops (12) which were self-adhered during curing. The loops (12) can be formed from a strand (30) of a physiologically acceptable metal wire, or from a continuous solid or tubular strand (18) of a medical grade silicone, fluorocarbon, rubber, latex, or vinyl or urethane polymer. The stent (10) is particularly advantageous over prior devices in reducing patient discomfort and the chance of tissue trauma or damage arising from removal of the stent (10) from the body lumen (50).
19 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
