Inventors:
Alexis Diaz - Miami FL 33165
International Classification:
A61M 2902
Abstract:
A stent delivery system for medical treatment of a patient includes a balloon catheter, a stent, a sheath, and a flexible tapered introducer tip. The balloon catheter has a hub, shaft, and inflatable balloon, as well as a tubular stent mounted about the deflated balloon and crimped to an initial diameter. The introducer tip is affixed to the distal end of the balloon catheter and tapers to a maximum outer diameter equal to the crimped stent outer diameter plus the sheath wall thickness. The balloon catheter shaft defines a groove along a major portion of its length, in which a guidewire may be partially received or embedded. This grooved design enables the stent delivery system shaft to have a smaller diameter. The composite sheath has a multiple diameter design with a distal portion adapted to retractably cover the crimped stent, and a proximal portion having a smaller diameter. This smaller diameter enables greater flow of a radiopaque contrast fluid around the outside of the proximal sheath and through the inside of a guiding catheter, thus providing the system with a high visibility capability.