Apparatus for delivering stents to body lumens include one or more tubular prostheses carried at the distal end of a catheter shaft, a sheath slidably disposed over the prostheses, and a guidewire tube extending from within the sheath to the exterior of the sheath through an exit port in a sidewall thereof. A guidewire extends slidably through the guidewire tube. The sheath can be moved relative to the catheter shaft and the guidewire tube to expose the prostheses for deployment. Methods of delivering stents are also provided.

A stent having a line-shaped body that extends helically in a circumferential direction while reciprocating in an axial direction by continuously alternating straight parts and curved parts, wherein the plurality of straight parts in the line-shaped body have a substantially constant thickness throughout the entire stent, and a certain number of the plurality of curved parts in the line-shaped body have different thicknesses.

A handle for a prosthetic heart valve delivery apparatus includes a housing, a motorized mechanism, and a holding mechanism. The housing is configured to be hand-held by a user and includes a distal opening. The motorized mechanism is disposed within the housing and is configured to be releasably coupled to a proximal end portion of a first shaft of the prosthetic heart valve delivery apparatus. When actuated, the motorized mechanism is configured to rotate the first shaft relative to the housing. The holding mechanism is disposed inside the housing and is configured to engage a proximal end portion of a second shaft of the prosthetic heart valve delivery apparatus such that the second shaft is axially and rotationally fixed relative to the housing, and the first shaft extends through the second shaft.

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure provide a prosthetic valve (e.g., prosthetic heart valve) and a valve delivery apparatus for delivery of the prosthetic valve to a native valve site via the human vasculature. The prosthetic valve comprises a frame or stent that comprises multiple cells arranged in unique ways. The prosthetic valve also comprises a leaflet assembly coupled to the frame and having a plurality of leaflets, wherein the leaflets are configured to allow blood to flow through the prosthetic heart valve in one direction from an inflow end portion to an outflow end portion of the frame or stent.

Disclosed herein is a hybrid stent having a balloon-expandable portion joined to a self-expanding portion. The hybrid stent is capable of withstanding the forces applied by delivery. Delivery systems for deploying a hybrid stent are described, as are methods of using such delivery systems.

A multi-element, vascular stent may be used to maintain or enhance patency of a blood vessel. The stent may be used in peripheral blood vessels, which may be long and/or tortuous. By using multiple, separate stent elements that are balloon expandable, the multi-element stent may be stronger than a traditional self-expanding stent but may also be more flexible, due to its multiple-element configuration, than a traditional balloon-expandable stent. Individual stent elements shorten upon expansion creating a space between stent elements. The distance between stent elements when deployed may be based on characteristics of the stent and the target vessel location such that the stent elements do not touch one another during skeletal movement. Thus, the multi-element, vascular stent described herein may be particularly advantageous for treating long lesions in tortuous peripheral blood vessels

An intragastric device including (1) a first wire mesh structure having a pre-deployment shape, a post-deployment shape greater than the pre-deployment state, and one or more openings on an upper portion of the first wire mesh structure that are configured to permit food to enter the device, (2) a second wire mesh structure having a pre-deployment shape a post-deployment shape greater than the pre-deployment state, and one or more openings on a lower portion of the second wire mesh structure that are configured to permit food to exit the device. A sleeve may be coupled to the lower portion of the wire mesh structure. An anti-migration collar may interconnect the wire mesh structure and the sleeve. In use, food enters the upper portion of the first wire mesh structure, passes through both wire mesh structures, and then exits the lower portion of the second wire mesh structure.

A prosthetic heart valve delivery system can include a catheter portion having a sheath that can cover and uncover the prosthetic heart valve mounted on an inner shaft, a handle having a sheath actuator operatively coupled to a proximal portion of the sheath, the inner shaft extending through the handle, and a shaft retractor releasably coupled to a proximal portion of the handle and fixedly coupled to a proximal portion of the inner shaft. A sheath actuator can move the sheath axially relative to the inner shaft when the shaft retractor is coupled to the handle, and a proximal movement of the sheath relative to the inner shaft can cause the sheath to uncover the prosthetic heart valve. The shaft retractor can be operable to retract the inner shaft and the nosecone proximally relative to the sheath when the shaft retractor is released from the handle.

Methods and devices relate to the use and construction of a vascular stent. A stent assembly includes mesh structure that is at least partially attached to a support or stent structure. The stent structure is formed of one or more struts that collectively form a tubular body sized to fit within a blood vessel. The mesh structure is formed of one or more filaments or sutures that are interwoven or knit to form a structure that is coupled to the stent structure. The mesh structure can at least partially cover or at least be partially covered by the stent structure.

A stent with a selectively covered end region. The stent includes a radially expandable tubular framework and a covering surrounding the tubular framework. The covering includes a skirt surrounding a distal end region of the tubular framework which is selectively removable from the distal end region of the tubular framework to expose the distal end region of the tubular framework to permit hyperplastic tissue ingrowth through the distal end region of the tubular framework. For example, the skirt may be folded, rolled, collapsed, or separated from the remainder of the covering to expose the distal end region of the tubular framework.