An expandable stent is implanted in a body lumen, such as a coronary artery, peripheral artery, or other body lumen for treating an area of vulnerable plaque. The invention provides for a an intravascular stent having a plurality of cylindrical rings connected by undulating links. The stent has a high degree of flexibility in the longitudinal direction, yet has adequate vessel wall coverage and radial strength sufficient to hold open an artery or other body lumen. A central section is positioned...

The present invention is directed to a method for maintaining the patency of a vessel via a stent while minimizing both the risk of permanent vessel collapse and the risk of dislodgment of the stent from the implant site if the stent is temporarily deformed due to external forces. The method utilizes a crush-resistant stent having either shape memory or superelastic properties.

This invention is directed to a balloon catheter having at least one advancement wire with a distal end section secured to a distal tip section of the catheter, and with a textured section extending along the outer surface of at least a portion of an inflatable section of the catheter balloon. The textured section of the advancement wire preferably improves the ability of the balloon to remain in position in the patient's body lumen during inflation of the balloon to perform a medical procedure ...

An intravascular stent and delivery system comprising a helically-shaped spring and means for expanding the stent from a first diameter to a second larger diameter, and releasing the stent for implantation within a vessel lumen; a method for intraluminal implantation of an intravascular stent using the said device. The stent and delivery device are particularly adapted to hold open a blood vessel after a vascular procedure therein such as an angioplasty.

An expandable stent is implanted in a body lumen, such as a coronary artery, peripheral artery, or other body lumen for treating an area of vulnerable plaque. The invention provides for a an intravascular stent having a plurality of cylindrical rings connected by undulating links. The stent has a high degree of flexibility in the longitudinal direction, yet has adequate vessel wall coverage and radial strength sufficient to hold open an artery or other body lumen. A central section is positioned...

Stents having struts with narrowed portions are described. The narrowed portions have a coating disposed thereon for the local delivery of a drug.

The invention is directed to an expandable stent for implantation in a body lumen, such as an artery. The stent consists of an elongated stent body formed with a central section positioned between a proximal end section and a distal end section, each having different radial expansion characteristics. The end sections of the stent are configured to have greater resistance to radial expansion than the corresponding central section such that, when deployed with a balloon catheter device, the centra...

The invention is directed to an expandable stent for implantation in a body lumen, such as a coronary artery. The stent consists of radially expandable cylindrical rings generally aligned on a common axis and interconnected by one or more links. At least some of the links are formed of a polymer material providing longitudinal and flexural flexibility to the stent while maintaining sufficient column strength to space the rings along the longitudinal axis.

The invention is directed to an expandable stent for implantation in a body lumen, such as a coronary artery. The stent consists of radially expandable cylindrical rings generally aligned on a common axis and interconnected by one or more links. At least some of the links are formed of a polymer material providing longitudinal and flexural flexibility to the stent while maintaining sufficient column strength to space the rings along the longitudinal axis.

An expandable stent for implantation in a body lumen, such as an artery, is disclosed. The stent consists of a plurality of radially expandable cylindrical elements generally aligned on a common longitudinal stent axis and interconnected by one or more interconnecting members placed so that the stent is flexible in the longitudinal direction. The strength of the stent at a center section or at either end can be varied by increasing the mass of the struts forming each cylindrical element in that ...