| 摘要 |
A method of making a stent is described such that, when placed in the human body, it defines flow following a non-planar curve e.g. swirl or helical flow. The stent production method comprises providing a tubular, hollow shape memory material structure 6, modifying the structure such that it forms a non-planar curve (see Figure 3), heating the structure so that the shape is memorised, and cooling the resulting stent. Before heating, the shape of the shape memory structure may modified by winding it around a mandrel tool 2 having a helical groove 4. A sleeve 8 may serve to constraint the structure 6 before heating in an inert (argon) atmosphere to 500 degrees C, followed by rapid cooling at 20 degrees C; further cooling to below 5 degrees C allows the finished stent to be manipulated into a collapsed state for delivery. |
