A degradable drug-loaded stent and a manufacturing method therefor. The degradable drug-loaded stent comprises a stent body, an outer surface of the stent body being provided with a drug-loaded groove, the stent body having a contracted state and an expanded state, the stent body being capable of switching from the contracted state to the expanded state via radial expansion, the stent body being a mesh columnar structure when in the expanded state, the depth of the drug-loaded groove being 10%-60% of the wall thickness of the mesh columnar structure.

A growth stent and valve and methods for making and using the same. The growth stent and valve may be delivered to treat early stage congenital lesions, while expanding to adult vessel diameters. In selected embodiments, the growth stent and valve can comprise a frame and may have a covering on some portion to prevent blood flow through a wall of the frame. The growth stent and valve advantageously can maintain radial strength across an entire range of diameters necessary to treat a narrowed lesion from birth and childhood through adulthood as the vessels grow over the lifetime of a patient.

A stent for vascular interventions having a hybrid open cell geometry. Variants of the stent include bare metal stents and drug-eluting stents. Embodiments of the stent include end projections for radiopaque markers or a discontinuous partial radiopaque coating on low-stress or low-strain regions of the peripheral stent. The stents of the invention are characterized by having thin walls, nested rows of struts, high expansion ratio, high and uniform radial force over entire diametric size and length of device, crush resistance up to and including about 90% of its fully expanded diameter, high fatigue resistance and high corrosion resistance.

A stent for vascular interventions having a hybrid open cell geometry. Variants of the stent include bare metal stents and drug-eluting stents. Embodiments of the stent include end projections for radiopaque markers or a discontinuous partial radiopaque coating on low-stress or low-strain regions of the peripheral stent. The stents of the invention are characterized by having thin walls, nested rows of struts, high expansion ratio, high and uniform radial force over entire diametric size and length of device, crush resistance up to and including about 90% of its fully expanded diameter, high fatigue resistance and high corrosion resistance.

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

The method of delivering an implant in an intracranial vessel includes deploying an anchor of a tethering device in an anchoring vessel forming a first fixation point and advancing a guide-sheath to a location near the anchoring vessel. The tethering device has a tether extending proximally from the anchor and the guide-sheath has at least one lumen. The method includes attaching the guide-sheath to the tether of the tethering device forming a second fixation point proximal to the first fixation point, delivering an implant through the lumen of the guide-sheath towards a treatment site distal to the first fixation point and located within an intracranial vessel, and deploying the implant at the treatment site. Related devices, systems, and methods are also provided.

A stent is formed of at least a cobalt-based alloy. The cobalt-based alloy may include 10-35 weight % metal member selected from the group consisting of platinum (Pt), gold (Au), iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), rhenium (Re), tungsten (W), palladium (Pd), tantalum (Ta), and combinations thereof; 16-21 weight % chromium (Cr); 9-12 weight % molybdenum (Mo); 0-25 weight % nickel (Ni); and balance cobalt (Co). The cobalt-based alloy may be a thin outer shell of a hollow stent. The cobalt-based alloy may be used to form at least one of an inner core and an outer shell of a core-shell structure of a stent. The cobalt-based alloy may be used to form an end of a wire for forming a stent.

A stent incorporating flexible, preferably polymeric, connecting elements into the stent wherein these elements connect adjacent, spaced-apart stent elements. Preferably the spaced-apart adjacent stent elements are the result of forming the stent from a helically wound serpentine wire having space provided between adjacent windings. Other stent forms such as multiple, individual spaced-apart ring-shaped or interconnected stent elements may also be used. The connecting elements are typically web-shaped and result from creating slits or apertures in a covering of graft material applied to the stent and then, for example, applying heat to cause the slits or apertures to enlarge. The remaining graft material forms the interconnecting webs between the adjacent stent elements.

An implantable prosthesis designed to transition from a contracted state to an expanded state, including a continuous tubular helical winding and a plurality of bridges. The helical winding includes a plurality of circumferential sections spaced apart along a helical axis, each of the plurality of circumferential sections forming a non-orthogonal helical angle relative to the helical axis. The plurality of bridges connect adjacent circumferential sections, each having a length extending from a first end to a second end on a plane orthogonal to the helical axis, the length being equal to a circumferential offset between the adjacent circumferential sections in both the contracted state and the expanded state. The implantable prosthesis also includes a first annular ring orthogonal to the helical axis, and a first marker having a first end connected to the first annular ring, and a second end coupled to the first end of the helical winding.

A stent and method of making incorporating flexible, preferably polymeric, connecting elements into the stent wherein these elements connect element(s) across an intervening space. The polymeric connecting elements are designed to fold within the space between the outer diameter of the stent and the inner diameter of the stent.