Stent-grafts for treating thoracic aortic aneurysms and abdominal aortic aneurysms include graft portions having inflatable channels and graft extensions. The graft extensions include an undulating wire stent and porous, but substantially fluid impermeable, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft materials.

A stent is formed from an at least partially cylindrical non-bioresorbable framework with a longitudinal zone of the stent that extends from the proximal end of the framework to the distal end and is defined by opposing longitudinal edges. A plurality of bioresorbable struts are secured to opposing longitudinal edges of the longitudinal zone. The bioresorbable struts hold the opposing longitudinal edges a first distance apart at an expanded deployed diameter to apposition the framework against a wall defining the vessel. After the stent is endothelialized, degradation of the bioresorbable struts causes the stent to contract to a reduced deployed diameter so that the opposing longitudinal edges are a second distance apart that is less than the first distance.

The present invention includes a device for effecting deformation of a sclera of an eye, including an expandable, mesh tube having holes dispersed through an entire surface thereof and with first and second tapered ends, and inserted unexpanded to deform the sclera when expanded. A central portion is intrascleral, with the first and second tapered ends external to the sclera on top of an intact scleral surface to deform during expansion, and simultaneously causes the sclera to be deformed so that the sclera moves towards the inside of the eye while simultaneously causing the sclera to move towards the outside of the eye. The mesh tube includes struts, connecting points of the struts are of different sizes, the first and second tapered ends and the connecting points within the tapered ends are thicker than the connecting points of the mesh tube, and the mesh tube includes fixation tabs.

A stent suitable for deployment in a blood vessel to support at least part of an internal wall of the blood vessel comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced-apart annular elements, and a plurality of connecting elements to connect adjacent annular elements. Each connecting element is circumferentially offset from the previous connecting element. Upon application of a load to the stent, the stent moves from an unloaded configuration to a loaded configuration. In the unloaded configuration the longitudinal axis of the stent is straight, and the stent is cylindrically shaped. In the loaded configuration the longitudinal axis of the stent is curved in three-dimensional space, and the stent is helically shaped.

An implantable expandable medical device in which selected regions of the device are in a martensite phase and selected regions are in an austenite phase. The martensitic regions exhibit pseudoplastic behavior in vivo and may be deformed without recovery under in vivo body conditions. In contrast the austenitic regions exhibit superelastic behavior in vivo and will recover their pre-programmed configuration upon deformation or release of an applied strain.

A method for treating an aneurysm can include inserting a medical device partially in a first artery and partially in a third artery. The device can be expanded radially outwardly from a first, position to a second position to engage an inner surface of the first artery and an inner surface of the third artery, so as to maintain a fluid pathway through said arteries. Further, the device can be positioned such that, when the device is in the second position, a porous membrane of the device is located at a neck of the aneurysm.

Apparatus and methods are described including implanting an aortic pressure-loss-reduction device (20) in a subject's ascending aorta. While the device is inside a catheter (42), a distal end of the catheter is placed within the ascending aorta. A proximal covering sheath (44) of the catheter is retracted such as to uncover at least a portion of a downstream anchor (31), such that the uncovered portion of the downstream anchor includes a portion of the frame that does not have material coupled thereto. Subsequently, a distal covering sheath (45) of the catheter is advanced, such as to cause an upstream anchor (33) to anchor an upstream end device (20) to the subject's ascending aorta, by the upstream anchor radially expending against an inner wall of the ascending aorta. Other applications are also described.

Thin-film mesh for medical devices and related methods are provided. The thin-film mesh may include slits to be expanded into pores, and the expanded thin-film mesh may be used as a cover for a stent device. The thin-film mesh has a tube-shape and the slits may be angled with respect to a longitudinal axis of the tube-shape thin-film mesh. The angled slits allow for the thin-film mesh to expand in multiple dimensions, including along the longitudinal axis and along the circumferential direction of the tube-shape thin-film mesh. The slits may be provided in diagonal rows arranged in longitudinal columns. Longitudinal columns of different types of slits may be arranged along the circumferential direction on the tube-shape thin-film mesh to form a zig-zag pattern of slits. The thin-film mesh may be formed from thin-film Nitinol (TFN) and may be fabricated via sputter deposition on a micropatterned wafer.

A stent assembly includes a framework having a tubular rest shape that defines a longitudinal axis, has an external surface that defines an expanded perimeter, and an internal surface that defines a passageway. The framework has a folded shape with a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis that fits in a closed shape having a perimeter that is smaller than the expanded perimeter. The stent assembly has a constrained configuration characterized by the framework being held in the folded shape by a trigger wire supporting sheer stress by being in contact with interlaced loops of the framework. The stent assembly has an unconstrained configuration characterized by the framework being in the tubular rest shape with the trigger wire out of contact with the framework.

A cylindrical indwelling medical device is formed by connecting a plurality of struts in a circumferential direction of the device in such a way to share a rib in an axial direction in neighboring struts to form annular or spiral columns of struts and connecting the columns of struts in the axial direction via links. Each strut has at least one set of strut pieces providing a bistable structure for supporting a load from reducing a diameter of the indwelling medical device and portions for inducing snap-through buckling deformation. load is in a direction preventing reverse snap-through buckling deformation to hold an expanded diameter state of the device. After the indwelling medical device with its diameter reduced has been introduced into a luminal organ and has expanded its diameter to indwell there, the device can resist sufficiently against the reduction in diameter, thus maintaining the expanded diameter state of the device.