A method of making a contoured internal limb including providing a flattened tubular segment of graft material, and a prosthesis including the contoured internal limb. The tubular segment includes a left lateral edge, a right lateral edge, a first length extending from the left lateral edge to the right lateral edge, and a second length extending from a proximal end to a distal end of the tubular segment. The method also includes contouring a proximal portion, a middle portion, and a distal portion of the contoured internal limb from the tubular segment. The method also includes closing a right lateral edge of the proximal portion and a right lateral edge of a first section of the middle portion. The method further includes removing the proximal, middle and distal portions of the contoured internal limb from the tubular segment and maintaining a second section of the middle portion as circumferentially continuous.

A pre-loaded delivery device that facilitates accurate placement of a stent graft assembly in the aorta is disclosed. A stent graft is carried on the delivery device and held in a pre-deployment configuration by a sheath. A split in the sheath facilitates the pre-cannulation of one or more branch arteries extending from the aorta before the stent graft is fully released in the aorta. The stent graft comprises a tubular body having at least one scalloped fenestration formed in one end of the graft material and at least one fenestration formed in the graft material of the main tubular body. A helical internal side branch extends from the fenestration within the lumen of the main tubular body. The helical side branch is configured to curve at least partially around the scalloped fenestration. The assembly further comprises a connection stent graft extending from the fenestration into a branch vessel.

A method for inducing weight loss in a patient, the method comprising: intentionally occluding a blood vessel so as to create hypoperfusion in a gastrointestinal organ serviced by the blood vessel, whereby to interfere with normal gastrointestinal function and thereby induce weight loss in a patient.

A medical device for temporary deployment into a bodily lumen is provided. The medical device comprises: a guide wire cannula having a proximal end and a distal end; a tip attached to the proximal end of the guide wire cannula; a pusher having a proximal and a distal end, the pusher having a through-bore disposed around the guide wire cannula; and a temporary stent assembly having a proximal end attached to the tip and a distal end adjacent to the proximal end of the pusher. The temporary stent assembly comprises a covered portion. The covered portion has a proximal sealing zone, a distal sealing zone and a recess between the proximal and distal sealing zones.

A system for treating a body lumen including a first stent configured to be positioned in a body lumen and a second stent configured to be positioned in the lumen of the first stent prior to removing the first stent from the body lumen. The first stent includes a liner disposed radially inward of the tubular scaffold of the first stent to permit tissue ingrowth within a tissue ingrowth region defined between the liner and the tubular scaffold. The retrieval stent is configured to be expanded within the previously implanted first stent to cause tissue to recede from the tissue ingrowth region to facilitate removal of the first stent from the body lumen.

In an embodiment, a stent is provided for use in blood vessels with blockage near or in a bifurcation. The stent includes a side aperture. The stent is inserted into one of the daughter branches of the bifurcation and positioned with the use of markers. The stent is then expanded so as to support the wall of the blood vessel while allowing the blood to continue to flow to both daughter branches.

A bioresorbable biopolymer stents can be deployed within a blood vessel and resorbed by the body over a predetermined time period after the blood vessel has been remodeled. A ratcheting biopolymer stent can include a ratcheting mechanism that allows the biopolymer stent to be deployed on a small diameter configuration and then expanded to a predefined larger diameter configuration wherein after expansion, the ratcheting mechanism locks the biopolymer stent in the expanded configuration. A folding biopolymer stent can be deployed in a folded, small diameter configuration and then expanded to an unfolded configuration having a larger diameter. The bioresorbable biopolymer can include silk fibroin and blend that include silk fibroin materials.

A modular valve prosthesis includes an anchor stent and a valve component. The anchor stent includes a self-expanding tubular frame member configured to be deployed in the aorta and a proximal arm component extending from a proximal end of the tubular frame member and configured to be deployed in the sinuses of the aortic valve. The anchor stent further includes attachment members extending from an internal surface of the tubular frame member. The valve component includes a valve frame configured to be deployed within the tubular frame member of the anchor stent such that the valve frame engages with the attachment members of the tubular frame member and a prosthetic valve coupled to the valve frame.

A bifurcated endovascular prosthesis that includes a tubular main body having a diameter, a proximal end, a distal end, an internal lumen extending from the proximal end to the distal end, an anterior side, and a posterior side. The anterior and posterior sides are opposite each other circumferentially around the internal lumen. The prosthesis also includes a first limb that extends from the distal end of the tubular main body along the anterior side of the main body. The first limb has a diameter less than the diameter of the tubular main body and having a proximal end and a distal end. The prosthesis also includes a fenestration adjacent to the proximal end of the first limb. The fenestration extends from the proximal end of the first limb to the posterior side of the tubular main body. The prosthesis also includes a second limb that extends within the internal lumen from the fenestration toward the proximal end of the tubular main body. The fenestration has a substantially diamond shape and a nonlinear profile, and the second limb extends into the lumen along the posterior side of the tubular main body.

A medical lumen-expansion balloon may include a generally cylindrical central body between first and second body end portions, a low-profile unexpanded first state and a radially-expanded second state, wherein the first body end portion is constrained by fiber material such that it will not expand longitudinally and circumferentially beyond a predetermined size, and the central body is constrained by fiber material so as to be circumferentially substantially noncompliant, but is longitudinally compliant, such that it will elongate with increased volume but will not substantially radially expand.