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  Expandable stent having a dissolvable portionUSPTO Application #: 20070073381Title: Expandable stent having a dissolvable portion Abstract: An expandable stent having a covering which exhibits the characteristic of upon being activated by applying an agent to the covering, dissolving to expose a portion of the underlying stent. The stent may be placed across the neck of an aneurysm to seal the aneurysm and thereafter a selected region of the covering may be dissolved by an activating agent to permit blood to flow to adjacent vessels. (end of abstract) Agent: Philip S. Johnson Johnson & Johnson - New Brunswick, NJ, US Inventor: Donald K. Jones USPTO Applicaton #: 20070073381 - Class: 623001150 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Prosthesis (i.e., Artificial Body Members), Parts Thereof, Or Aids And Accessories Therefor, Arterial Prosthesis (i.e., Blood Vessel), Stent Structure The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070073381. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS(S) [0001] This patent application is a divisional patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/976,412 (Attorney Docket No. CRD5045USNP), filed on Oct. 28, 2004, entitled, "Expandable Stent Having A Dissolvable Portion." BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to intravascular stents and methods of treating aneurysms, and more particularly, this invention relates to a covered stent which may be modified to treat an aneurysm located adjacent to a bifurcated blood vessel while permitting blood to flow through the bifurcated vessel, and methods of use thereof. [0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0005] Expandable stents are widely used in the treatment of vascular diseases. Typically, a stent is inserted into a stenosed blood vessel after an angioplasty to prevent the restenosis of the blood vessels. Expandable stents are also used as aneurysm covers. When a stent is placed across an aneurysm, the blood flow into the aneurysm is decreased. Decreased blood flow within an aneurysm promotes the formation of a thrombus within the aneurysm which ultimately aids in protecting the aneurysm from further expansion or rupture. [0006] Optimally, a covered stent is positioned across an aneurysm to completely restrict the blood flow into the aneurysm. Such covered stents, typically covered with a material such as PTFE provide suitable aneurysm covers; however, these stents have certain limitations. For example, covered stents impede blood flow into or out of branching blood vessels. Thus, a covered stent may not be suitable for treating an aneurysm at or near a bifurcated blood vessel. [0007] Several patents and patent applications disclose covered stents with various modifications which tend to avoid these limitations inherent with typical covered stents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,414, entitled "Variable Stent And Method For Treatment Of Arterial Disease," discloses a covered stent having predetermined and sized lateral openings for the treatment of arterial disease at or around the intersection of multiple arteries; U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,722, entitled "Method And Apparatus For In-Vivo Tailored Stents Indicated For Use In Tortuous Anatomy," discloses a stent having a side opening to allow unimpeded blood flow to a branching vessel at the point of stenting; and, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0074049, entitled "Covered Stents And Systems For Deploying Covered Stents," discloses a covered stent which may be perforated in order to allow blood flow into a side branch or bifurcated vessel. [0008] Also, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/696,667, filed on Oct. 29, 2003 (Attorney Docket No. CRD5038), assigned to the same assignee as the subject patent application discloses a covered stent for treating an aneurysm which includes a skeletal stent structure with removable slat members to permit blood to flow through a bifurcated blood vessel. Upon deployment, one or more of the slats may be removed to allow blood to flow through portions of the stent structure while others of the slats are left in place to seal the neck of an adjacent aneurysm. This patent application made of record in the subject patent application and is hereby incorporated and made a part of the subject application. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided an aneurysm treatment device including an expandable stent which takes the form of a small diameter skeletal tubular member having a thin wall. The wall of the skeletal tubular member defines a plurality of cells which are formed by a plurality of interconnected strut members. Also, a covering extends over a portion of the expandable stent. The covering exhibits the characteristic of, upon being actuated by applying an activating agent to the covering, dissolving to thereby expose a portion of the expandable stent. [0010] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the expandable stent takes the form of a metallic structural tubular member and the covering is formed from a polymer, such as ethylene vinyl alcohol. The activating agent may take the form of dimethylsulfoxide. If the activating agent is applied to a selective portion of the coating that portion dissolves to expose the underlying porous stent to permit blood to flow through the stent while the balance of the stent remains intact to cover an aneurysm. [0011] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of treating an aneurysm including the method steps of providing an expandable stent including a skeletal tubular member having a covering disposed onto the skeletal tubular member, inserting the expandable stent into the blood vessel of a patient, advancing the expandable stent until the covering on the stent is aligned with and covers an aneurysm in the blood vessel, expanding the expandable stent so that the covering extends across the neck of an aneurysm, and applying an activating agent to a portion of the covering to cause that portion of the covering to dissolve to expose a portion of the underlying stent in order to permit blood to flow through that portion of the stent while maintaining a seal across the aneurysm. [0012] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for treating an aneurysm including the steps of providing an expandable stent including a skeletal tubular member having a covering disposed onto the skeletal tubular member, inserting said expandable stent into a blood vessel of a patient, advancing the expandable stent until the covering on the stent is aligned with and covers an aneurysm in the blood vessel and also covers a branching blood vessel, expanding the skeletal tubular member so that the covering extends across the neck of the aneurysm and across a branching vessel, inserting a drug delivery catheter into the branching vessel and advancing the distal tip of the drug delivery catheter to have position proximate to a portion of the covering of the stent which extends across the branching vessel, and applying an activating agent through the drug delivery catheter to that portion of the covering to thereby cause that portion of the covering to dissolve and expose a portion of the porous tubular member thereby permitting blood to flow to or from the branching vessel. [0013] In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an aneurysm treatment device which includes an expandable tubular member having a thin wall and in which the wall of the tubular member is formed of a material which exhibits the characteristic that when an activating agent is applied to a portion of the wall of the tubular member that portion of the wall dissolves to provide a passageway through the wall. The wall of the expandable tubular member may be formed of ethylene vinyl alcohol and the activating agent may take the form of dimethylsulfoxide. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0014] FIG. 1 is an enlarged oblique view of a covered stent device comprised of an expandable skeletal support member and a outer covering which extends over a portion of the support member; [0015] FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the covered stent placed adjacent to the neck of an aneurysm and across a main artery at a bifurcation; [0016] FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the covered stent illustrating an activating agent being applied to a portion of the covering device at a branching vessel; and, FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevational view of the covered stent with a portion of the covering removed to expose the underlying porous skeletal stent. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an expandable covered stent 10 which may be used to treat an aneurysm, such as an aneurysm within the brain, occurring in a blood vessel at or near a bifurcation in the blood vessel. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the covered stent 10 is comprised of an expandable skeletal stent 12 and an outer covering 14 disposed on the outer surface of the skeletal stent 12. [0018] More particularly, the skeletal stent 12 includes a plurality of cells which are formed by a plurality of interconnected strut members to thereby define a structure which may be placed into a vessel and after being properly aligned may then be expanded. The skeletal stent 12 may either take the form of a balloon expandable stent or a self-expanding stent. An example of such a self expanding stent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,673,106, entitled, "Intravascular Stent Device," and an example of a stent and stent deployment system is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/365,288, entitled, "Expandable Stent And Delivery System," filed on Feb. 12, 2003, Attorney Docket No. CRD1062. This patent and patent application are assigned to the same assignee as the present patent application and are hereby made of record and incorporated by reference into the present patent application. [0019] The outer covering 14 preferably takes the form of a polymer, such as a thin film of ethylene vinyl alcohol which may be bonded to the surface of the skeletal stent 12. This covering, as will be described in more detail, serves to cover the neck of the aneurysm. This material exhibits the characteristic of, upon being activated by applying an agent to the covering, dissolving to expose a portion of the underlying expandable stent. Continue reading... Full patent description for Expandable stent having a dissolvable portion Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Expandable stent having a dissolvable portion patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Expandable stent having a dissolvable portion or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Stent delivery system Next Patent Application: Longitudinally expanding, rotating & contracting shaped memory superelastic stent Industry Class: Prosthesis (i.e., artificial body members), parts thereof, or aids and accessories therefor ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Expandable stent having a dissolvable portion patent info. 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