(12) Unlted States Patent
`(16) Patent N0.:
`US 6,361,637 B2
`
`Martin et al.
`(45) Date of Patent:
`*Mar. 26, 2002
`
`USOO6361637B2
`
`(54) METHOD OF MAKING A KINK RESISTANT
`STENT—GRAFT
`
`3,142,067 A
`3,152,618 A
`3,174,851 A
`
`7/1964 Liebig
`10/1964 Rothermel et al.
`3/1965 Buehler et al.
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Gerald Ray Martin, Flagstaff, AZ
`
`33517463 A
`
`11/1967 Rozner 6t al~
`
`Scott N. Stonebrook, Flagstaff, AZ
`(US); Sharon Lam, Redwood C1ty;
`Troy Thornton, San Francisco, both of
`CA (US)
`
`_
`_
`,
`(73) Ass1gnee: Gore Enterprlse Holdlngs, Inc.,
`Newark, DE (US)
`
`AU
`AU
`CA
`CA
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`This patent issued on a continued pros-
`ecution application filed under 37 CFR
`1.53(d), and IS subject to the twenty year
`patent
`term provisions of 35 U.S.C.
`154(a)(2).
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U-S-C- 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/376,931
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Aug. 13, 1999
`
`Related US. Application Data
`
`(60) Division of application No. 08/896,805, filed on Jul. 18,
`1997, now Fat..No. 6,042,605, which is a continuation-in-
`now abandoned.
`Part Of apphcatlon N°~ 08/572548: filed on Dec 14, 1995:
`
`Int. Cl.7 ................................................... A61F 2/06
`(51)
`(52) US. Cl.
`....................... 156/187; 156/191; 156/192;
`156/3082; 623/113
`(58) Field of Search ......................... 623/1.13; 156/187,
`156/191, 192, 308.2
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`2,638,093 A
`5/1953 Kulick
`3,029,819 A
`4/1962 Starks
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`7/1963 Liebig
`
`(List continued on next page.)
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`42485/89
`4/1990
`34742/93
`1/1993
`2026604
`4/1991
`2079417
`4/1993
`
`(LiSt continued on next page.)
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Cragg, et a1: Percutaneous Femoropopliteal Graft Place-
`ment;
`J. Vascular
`and Interventional Radiology; pp.
`455—462; Jul.—Aug. 1993; vol. 4, No. 4.
`
`(List continued on next page.)
`
`Primary Examiner—Jeff H. Aftergut
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Morgan & Finnegan, LLP
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`.
`.
`.
`.
`A stent-graft mcludmg a stent member havmg an mner
`surface and an outer surface, a generally tubular graft
`member and a coupling member that couples the stent
`member to the graft member. The coupling member, WhiCh
`is the preferred embodiment is in the form of a ribbon,
`covers only a portion of the inner or outer surface of the stent
`member and secures the stent member and graft member to
`one another. Alternatively, the coupling member can be to
`described as interconnecting less than entirely the inner or
`outer surface of the graft member to the stent member. With
`this construction, regions of the stent member do not inter-
`fere with the coupling member. Shear stresses between the
`stent member and the coupling member and the risk of
`tearing the graft or coupling member or delamination ther-
`ebetween may be reduced as compared to a fully enveloped
`stent member. This construction also provides improved
`fleX1b1hty and kmk re51stance.
`
`10 Claims, 19 Drawing Sheets
`
`Page 1 Of 33
`
`US. Patent No. 6,915,560
`IPR2017-00444 EX. 2029
`
`Edwards Lifesciences v. Boston Scientific
`
`Page 1 of 33
`
`

`

`US 6,361,637 132
`
`Page 2
`
`US. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`3,514,791
`3,562,820
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`4,820,298
`4,830,003
`
`>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
`
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`5,282,824
`
`>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
`
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`Page 2 of 33
`
`Page 2 of 33
`
`

`

`US 6,361,637 132
`
`Page 3
`
`5,282,846
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`5,290,305
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`5,549,635
`5,549,663
`5,554,180
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`5,556,413
`
`>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
`
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`5,723,003
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`5,728,131
`
`>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
`
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`Page 3 of 33
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`Page 3 of 33
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`

`

`US 6,361,637 132
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`10/1998 Lenker et al.
`12/1998 Butler et al.
`12/1998 Campbell et al.
`2/1999 Love
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`3/1999 Lau et al.
`3/1999 Silvestrini
`7/1999 Lau et al.
`7/1999 Ogi et al.
`7/1999 Myers et al.
`10/1999 Robinson et al.
`10/1999 Campbell et al.
`11/1999 Campbell et al.
`11/1999 Lewis et al.
`12/1999 Lau
`1/2000 Lau et al.
`1/2000 Thornton et al.
`1/2000 Lau
`1/2000 Riehard et al.
`2/2000 Campbell et al.
`2/2000 Campbell et al.
`2/2000 Campbell et al.
`4/2000 House et al.
`7/2000 Fischell et al.
`9/2000 Campbell et al.
`10/2000 Butters et al.
`10/2000 Campbell et al.
`12/2000 Campbell et al.
`12/2000 Lau et al.
`2/2001 Fogarty et al.
`3/2001 Lombardi et al.
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`DE
`DE
`DE
`DE
`DE
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`EP
`
`37 24 514 A1
`39 18736 A1
`39 18 736 A1
`41 37 857 A1
`197—17—823 A
`0 382 014
`0 408 245
`0 418 677
`0 423 916 B1
`0 435 518 A1
`0 464 755 A1
`0 472 731
`0 540 290
`0 551 179 A1
`0 556 850
`0 565 251
`0 667 131 A2
`0 689 806 A2
`0 686 379
`0 696 447 A2
`0 701 800 A1
`0 705 577 A1
`
`2/1989
`12/1990
`12/1990
`5/1992
`11/1997
`8/1990
`1/1991
`3/1991
`4/1991
`7/1991
`1/1992
`3/1992
`5/1993
`7/1993
`8/1993
`10/1993
`1/1995
`5/1995
`12/1995
`2/1996
`3/1996
`4/1996
`
`EP
`EP
`FR
`GB
`GB
`GB
`JP
`JP
`JP
`JP
`JP
`JP
`SU
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`
`0 716 834 A1
`0 747 020 A2
`2 678 508
`1 506 432
`1 567 122
`1 355 373
`02-174859
`06-007454
`06-181993
`7—500272 T
`07024688
`8-509899 T
`1635980 A1
`W0 88/06026
`W0 90/04982
`W0 92/03107
`W0 92/04097
`W0 92/06734
`W0 92/09246
`W0 93/13825
`W0 93/17636
`W0 93/19803
`W0/93/19804
`W0 93/22984
`W0 93/22989
`W0 94/00179
`W0 94/01483
`W0 94/04097
`W0 94/12136
`W0 94/15549
`W0 95/01466
`W0 95/05131
`W0 95/05132
`W0 95/09586
`W0 95/21592
`W0 95/26695
`W0 96/10967
`W0 96/18360
`W0 96/18361
`W0 96/24306
`W0 97/21402
`W0 97/21403
`W0 97/21641
`W0 98/30173
`
`6/1996
`12/1996
`8/1993
`4/1978
`5/1980
`6/1994
`7/1990
`1/1994
`7/1994
`1/1995
`3/1995
`10/1996
`12/1988
`8/1988
`5/1990
`3/1992
`3/1992
`4/1992
`6/1992
`7/1993
`9/1993
`10/1993
`10/1993
`11/1993
`11/1993
`1/1994
`1/1994
`3/1994
`6/1994
`7/1994
`2/1995
`2/1995
`2/1995
`4/1995
`8/1995
`10/1995
`4/1996
`6/1996
`6/1996
`8/1996
`6/1997
`6/1997
`6/1997
`7/1998
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`Cragg, et al; Nitinol Intravascular Stent.‘ Results ofPreclini-
`cal Evaluation; Radiology; pp. 775—778; Dec. 1993; vol.
`189, N0. 3.
`Cragg, “Percutane0us Fem0r0p0pliteal Graft Placement”
`Radiology (1993) 187 (3): 643—648.
`Hagen et al, “Self—Expandable Macr0p0r0us Nitinol Stents
`f0r Transfem0ral Exclusion of Aortic Aneurysms in Dogs:
`Preliminary Results” Cardiovascular Intervention Radiol-
`ogy (1993) 16:339—342.
`Laborde et al., “Intraluminal Bypass of Abdominal Aortic
`Aneurysm: Feasibility Study”; Radiology 1992,
`184:
`185—190.
`Product Brochure f0r Cook—Z Stents, Gianturc0—R0sch Bil-
`iary Design, C00k®, a Cook Groups Company, PO. box
`489, Bloomington, IN, 47402, USA, 4 pgs. total, (1989).
`NeuWirth, MinTecTM Minimally Invasive Technologies
`Product Brochure for the Craggstent and Cragg End0Pr0
`System 1, 4 pgs.
`Blum, U. et al.; “Dacron Endografts f0r Infrarenal Abdomi-
`nal Aortic Aneurysms: 2 Year Follow—up”; Fifth interna-
`tional and Interdisciplinary Symposium on Endoluminal
`Stents and Grafts (Oct. 10—13, 1996) Washington, DC, 2
`pages total.
`
`Page 4 of 33
`
`Page 4 of 33
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`

`

`US 6,361,637 132
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`Page 5
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`Wilson et al.; “A self expanding bifurcated endovascular
`graft for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair. An Initial
`Study in a Canine Model” ASAIO Journal 42(5): 386—393
`(1996).
`
`World Medical News, World Medical manufacturing Cor-
`poration, 13794 NW 4th Street, Bldgs. 210 & 211, Sunrise,
`Florida, 33325 USA, vol. 5, Issue 3 (Jul. 1996) 3 pages
`total.
`
`L.S. application No. 08/871,427, Lau, et al., filed Jun. 9,
`1997 and pending claims as of Apr. 16, 2001.
`
`L .S. application No. 09/207,944, Vonesh et al., filed Dec. 9,
`1998 and response dated Aug. 21, 2000.
`
`LS. application No. 09/235,214, Brauker et al., filed Jan.
`22, 1999.
`
`L .S. application No. 09/235,458, Vonesh et al., filed Jan. 22,
`1999 and response dated Sep. 28, 2000.
`
`Chuter et al.; “Bifurcated stent—grafts for AAA: 3 year
`follow—up”; Abstracts
`from the Seventh International
`Course on Peripheral Vascular Intervention; J. Endovas.
`Surg. (1996) 3:453.
`Chuter et al.; “Bifurcated stent—grafts for AAA: 3 year
`follow—up”, Fifth International and Interdisciplinary Sym-
`posium on Endoluminal Stents and Grafts (Oct. 10—13,
`1996) Washington, DC, 2 pages total.
`Dereume, JP et al.; “Endoluminal Treatment of Abdominal
`Aortic Aneurysm With the Corvita Endovascular Graft,
`Results of a Single—Center, Prospective Feasibility Study of
`90 Patients”; Abstracts from the Seventh International
`Course on Peripheral Vascular Intervention J. Endovasc.
`Surg. (1996) 3:460—461.
`Katzen et al.; “Initial experience performing conbined sur-
`gical/intervention procedures in the interventional suite”
`Abstracts from the Seventh International Course on Periph-
`eral Vascular Intervention J. Endovasc. Surg. (1996) 3:467.
`Moore et al., “Transfermoral endovascular repair of abdomi-
`nal aortic aneurysm: Result of the North American EVT
`phase 1 trial” J. Vasc. Surg. (1996) 23:543—552.
`Parodi et al., “long—term follow—up of AAA endoluminal
`repair” Abstracts from the Seventh International Course on
`Peripheral Vascular Intervention. J. Endovasc. Surg. (1996)
`3:335.
`
`White et al., “Endoleak following endoluminal repair of
`AAA: Diagnosis, significance, and amanagement”Abstracts
`from the Seventh International Course on Peripheral Vas-
`cular Intervention J. Endovasc. Surg. (1996) 3:339—340.
`
`
`
`L L
`
`.S. application No. 09/306,522, Myers, filed May 6, 1999.
`
`.S. application No. 09/408,866, Brenton et al., filed Sep.
`30, 1999 and response dated Jan. 10, 2001.
`
`L .S. application No. 09/488,229, Cully et al., filed Jan. 20,
`2000.
`
`L .S. application No. 09/489,604, Vonesh et al., filed Jan. 20,
`2000.
`
`LS. application No. 09/510,937, Goffena et al., filed Feb.
`22, 2000 and response dated Oct. 5, 2000.
`
`Page 5 of 33
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`US 6,361,637 B2
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`1
`METHOD OF MAKING A KINK RESISTANT
`STENT—GRAFT
`
`CONTINUING DATA
`
`This application is a divisional application of US. appli-
`cation Ser. No. 08/896,805, filed Jul. 18, 1997, now US. Pat.
`No. 6,042,605, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.
`08/572,548,
`filed Dec. 14, 1995, now abandoned,
`the
`entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates generally to implants for repairing
`ducts and passageways in the body. More specifically, the
`invention relates to an expandable stent-graft.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Treatment or isolation of vascular aneurysms or of vessel
`walls which have been thinned or thickened by disease has
`traditionally been performed via surgical bypassing with
`vascular grafts. Shortcomings of this procedure include the
`morbidity and mortality associated with surgery, long recov-
`ery times after surgery, and the high incidence of repeat
`intervention needed due to limitations of the graft or of the
`procedure.
`Vessels thickened by disease are currently sometimes
`treated less invasively with intraluminal stents that mechani-
`cally hold these vessels open either subsequent to or as an
`adjunct to a balloon angioplasty procedure. Shortcomings of
`current stents include the use of highly thrombogenic mate-
`rials (stainless steels,
`tantalum, ELGILOY) which are
`exposed to blood, the general failure of these materials to
`attract and support functional endothelium,
`the irregular
`stent/vessel surface that causes unnatural blood flow
`patterns, and the mismatch of mechanical compliance and
`flexibility between the vessel and the stent.
`Various attempts have been made to provide a nonthrom-
`bogenic blood-carrying conduit. Pinchuk, in US. Pat. Nos.
`5,019,090, 5,092,887, and 5,163,958, suggests a spring stent
`which appears to circumferentially and helically wind about
`as it is finally deployed except, perhaps, at the very end link
`of the stent. The Pinchuk ’958 patent further suggests the use
`of a pyrolytic carbon layer on the surface of the stent to
`present a porous surface of improved antithrombogenic
`properties.
`US. Pat. No. 5,123,917, to Lee, suggests an expandable
`vascular graft having a flexible cylindrical inner tubing and
`a number of “scaffold members” which are expandable,
`ring-like and provide circumferential rigidity to the graft.
`The scaffold members are deployed by deforming them
`beyond their plastic limit using, e.g., an angioplasty balloon.
`Avariety of stent-graft designs also have been developed
`to improve upon simple stent configurations. Perhaps the
`most widely known stent-graft is shown in Ersek, US. Pat.
`No. 3,657,744. Ersek shows a system for deploying
`expandable, plastically deformable stents of metal mesh
`having an attached graft through the use of an expansion
`tool.
`
`Palmaz describes a variety of expandable intraluminal
`vascular grafts in a sequence of patents: US. Pat. Nos.
`4,733,665; 4,739,762; 4,776,337; and 5,102,417. The Pal-
`maz ’665 patent suggests grafts (which also function as
`stents) that are expanded using angioplasty balloons. The
`grafts are variously a wire mesh tube or of a plurality of thin
`bars fixedly secured to each other. The devices are installed,
`e.g., using an angioplasty balloon and consequently are not
`
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`seen to be self-expanding. The Palmaz ’762 and ’337 patents
`appear to suggest the use of thin-walled, biologically inert
`materials on the outer periphery of the earlier-described
`stents. Finally, the Palmaz ’417 patent describes the use of
`multiple stent sections each flexibly connected to its neigh-
`bor.
`
`Rhodes, US. Pat No. 5,122,154, shows an expandable
`stent-graft made to be expanded using a balloon catheter.
`The stent is a sequence of ring-like members formed of links
`spaced apart along the graft. The graft is a sleeve of a
`material such as an expanded polyfluorocarbon, expanded
`polytetrafluoroethylene available from W. L. Gore &
`Associates, Inc. or IMPRA Corporation.
`Schatz, US. Pat. No. 5,195,984, shows an expandable
`intraluminal stent and graft related in concept to the Palmaz
`patents discussed above. Schatz discusses, in addition, the
`use of flexibly-connecting vascular grafts which contain
`several of the Palmaz stent rings to allow flexibility of the
`overall structure in following curving body lumen.
`Cragg, “Percutaneous Femoropopliteal Graft Placement”,
`Radiology, vol. 187, no. 3, pp. 643—648 (1993), shows a
`stent-graft of a self-expanding, nitinol, zig-zag, helically
`wound stent having a section of polytetrafluoroethylene
`tubing sewed to the interior of the stent.
`Cragg (European Patent Application 0,556,850) discloses
`an intraluminal stent made up of a continuous helix of
`zig-zag wire and having loops at each apex of the zig-zags.
`Those loops on the adjacent apexes are individually tied
`together to form diamond-shaped openings among the wires.
`The stent may be made of a metal such as nitinol (col. 3 lines
`15—25 and col. 4, lines 42+), and may be associated with a
`“polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), dacron, or any other suit-
`able biocompatible material”. Those biocompatible materi-
`als may be inside the stent (col. 3 lines 52+) or outside the
`stent (col. 4, lines 6+).
`WO93/13825 to Maeda et al. discloses a self-expanding
`stent having a wire bent into an elongated zig-Zag pattern
`and helically would about a tubular shape interconnected
`with a filament. A sleeve may be attached to the outer or
`inner surface of the stent.
`
`PCT application publication WO/95/05132 discloses a
`stent-graft with a tubular diametrically adjustable stent.
`There is a need for an alternate stent-graft construction
`that exhibits excellent kink resistance and flexibility.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention involves a stent-graft including a
`stent member having an inner surface and an outer surface,
`a generally tubular graft member and a coupling member
`that couples the stent member to the graft member. The
`coupling member, which in the preferred embodiment is in
`the form of a ribbon, covers only a portion of at least one of
`the inner or outer surface of the stent member and secures
`
`to one another.
`the stent member and graft member
`Alternatively,
`the coupling member can be described as
`interconnecting less than entirely the inner or outer surface
`of the stent member to the graft member.
`With this construction, regions of the stent member do not
`interface with the coupling member. This is believed to
`advantageously reduce shear stresses between the stent
`member and the coupling member when the stent-graft
`undergoes bending so that tearing of the coupling and/or
`graft member can be minimized or eliminated. It is also
`believed that this arrangement minimizes the likelihood of
`delamination between the coupling member and the graft. If
`
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`3
`delamination were to occur, the inner portion of the stent-
`graft could perceivable collapse into the vessel lumen and
`interfere with desired blood flow. Thus, the stent-graft is
`believed to be capable of conforming to curves in a blood
`vessel
`lumen with minimal risk of tearing the graft or
`coupling member, or delamination between the stent and
`graft members.
`According to another aspect of the invention, the coupling
`member is secured to the graft member without sutures.
`When the graft member is placed within the stent member,
`for example, this arrangement eliminates the need for having
`sutures extend into the lumen formed by the graft member
`and possibly interfere with blood flow. Another benefit of
`this arrangement, as compared to suturing the stent to the
`graft member, is that suture holes need not be placed in the
`graft which could adversely affect its integrity. The coupling
`member may be thermally or adhesively bonded to the graft
`member.
`
`The coupling member preferably has a generally broad or
`flat working surface as compared to filament or thread-like
`structures such as sutures. As noted above, a preferred
`coupling member is in the form of a ribbon. This configu-
`ration advantageously increases potential bonding surface
`area between the coupling member and the graft member to
`enhance the integrity of the bond therebetween. The
`increased bonding surface may facilitate minimizing the
`thickness of the coupling member so that the stent-graft
`lumen volume and blood flow dynamics therein can be
`optimized. For example, a thicker coupling member would
`increase the overall stent-graft thickness which can cause an
`undesirable lumen diameter reduction at the transition where
`
`the vessel lumen interfaces the inlet of the stent-graft. This,
`in turn, can result
`in undesirable turbulent flow which
`possibly can lead to complications such as thrombosis.
`According to a preferred embodiment of the invention,
`the coupling member is arranged in a helical configuration
`with multiple turns. Each of a number of the coupling
`member turns is spaced from the turn(s) adjacent thereto.
`With this construction, a generally uniform distribution of
`coupling member-free stress relief zones may be achieved.
`Elastic wrinkling in the graft member may occur in those
`zones so that the graft member can absorb stress when bent
`along its longitudinal axis, for example, and resist kinking.
`According to a preferred stent member construction for
`use with the stent-graft of the present invention, at least a
`portion of the stent member includes undulations and is
`arranged in a helical configuration with multiple turns. Each
`stent member undulation includes an apex and an open base
`portion. The apexes and base portions are configured so as
`not to restrain one apex into the undulation in an adjacent
`turn and substantially in-phase therewith when the stent-
`graft is bent or compressed. This is believed to facilitate
`undulation movement during bending or compression and
`minimize the likelihood of stress build-up that may cause
`kinking. The coupling member typically covers a substantial
`portion of each undulation so as to minimize the likelihood
`of the stent member apexes bending away from the graft
`member and interfering with the environment or tether line
`which may be used to maintain the stent-graft in a folded
`state before deployment. The coupling member also may be
`positioned adjacent to the apexes to minimize the likelihood
`of such apex movement.
`the end
`According to another aspect of the invention,
`portions of the stent-member also may be enveloped
`between the coupling member or discrete coupling members
`and the graft member. This prevents the terminal portions of
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`the stent and graft members from significantly moving away
`from one another. For example, when the stent-member is
`external to the graft member, the terminal graft portions may
`flap away from the stent member and possibly interfere with
`blood flow if the terminal coupling portions were not
`present.
`According to another feature of the invention, the stent-
`graft is advantageously manufactured by placing a cushion-
`ing layer around a mandrel, assembling the stent-graft on the
`cushioning layer, surrounding the mandrel mounted assem-
`bly with a multi-component member formed from a PTFE
`tube having a longitudinal slit and which is wrapped with an
`expanded PTFE or other film or tape to compress the
`assembly, and heating the assembly to bond a coupling
`member to the graft.
`The above is a brief description of some deficiencies in
`the prior art, and advantages and aspects of the present
`invention. Other features, advantages, and embodiments of
`the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from
`the following description, accompanying drawings and
`appended claims.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a stent-graft constructed
`in accordance with the principles of the present: invention.
`FIG. 1B is an enlarged perspective view of a mid-portion
`of the stent-graft shown in FIG. 1A.
`FIG. 1C is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the
`stent-graft shown in FIG. 1A mounted on a cushioned
`mandrel.
`
`FIG. 2 is a side view of an enlarged portion of the
`stent-graft shown in FIG. 1A.
`FIG. 3A is a diagrammatic representation of a transverse
`section of the stent-graft of FIG. 1 prior to the coupling and
`graft members being secured to one another.
`FIG. 3B is an enlarged portion of the section shown in
`FIG. 3A after the coupling and graft members have been
`secured to one another.
`
`FIG. 4 illustrates the stent-graft of FIGS. 1A & 1B under
`longitudinal, axial compression.
`FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the stent-graft of FIGS. 1A
`and 1B taken along line 5—5 in FIG. 4.
`FIG. 6 diagrammatically shows a portion of the stent-graft
`of FIGS. 1A and 1B bent along its longitudinal axis.
`FIG. 7 is a perspective view of anoth