BIODEGRADABLE WIRE WITH CENTRAL FILAMENT

摘要

A composite wire product includes a biodegradable parent material which forms the bulk of the cross-sectional area of the wire, and a central fiber or filament of a slower-degrading or non-biodegradable material runs throughout the length of the wire. This central filament promotes the mechanical integrity of an intraluminal appliance or other medical device made from the wire product throughout the biodegradation process by preventing non-absorbed parent material from dislodging from the central filament. Thus, the present wire design enables the creation of medical devices that are designed to improve in flexibility toward a more natural state over the course of healing, while also controlling for the possibility of non-uniform in vivo erosion.

主权项

1. A wire material comprising:
a filament made from a filament material; a shell surrounding the filament and having a diameter less than 1.5 mm, the shell formed from a shell material, the shell material formed from a biodegradable material having a biodegradation rate faster than the filament material, the wire defining a non-biodegraded state including both the filament and the shell and a biodegraded state including only the substantially intact filament, the wire defining a first flexural rigidity in the non-biodegraded state and a second flexural rigidity in the biodegraded state, the first flexural rigidity being at least two orders of magnitude larger than the second flexural rigidity, whereby the flexibility of the wire increases as the shell biodegrades.