US 6,981,987 B2
Removable stent for body lumens
Shawn Thayer Huxel, Lawrenceville, N.J. (US); Arindam Datta, Hillsborough, N.J. (US); Yufu Li, Bridgewater, N.J. (US); Dennis D. Jamiolkowski, Long Valley, N.J. (US); and Emil Richard Skula, Wayne, N.J. (US)
Assigned to Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, N.J. (US)
Filed on May 08, 2001, as Appl. No. 9/851,257.
Application 09/851257 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/470620, filed on Dec. 22, 1999, granted, now 6,494,908.
Prior Publication US 2002/0002399 A1, Jan. 03, 2002
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61F 2/06 (2006.01); A16M 5/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 623—1.22 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A stent, comprising:
a helical structure having a plurality of coils, said structure having a longitudinal axis and said coils having a pitch, said structure having an internal longitudinal passage wherein said structure is made from a filament having a cross-section and an outer surface, said filament comprising:
a soft flexible elongated member having an outer surface; and
a bioabsorbable or biodegradable polymeric outer coating on the outer surface of the member;
wherein, the polymeric coating has sufficient mechanical integrity to effectively maintain the flexible member in a helical configuration, until the coating has sufficiently been degraded or absorbed in vivo to effectively convert the helical structure back into a soft, elongated member, wherein the coating comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyacrylamides, polyethylene glycols, polyethylene oxide, vinyl alcohols, poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone)s and polymers made from monomers selected from the group consisting of lactide, glycolide, para-dioxanone, caprolactone, and trimethylene carbonate, caprolactone, blends thereof and copolymers thereof.