REDUCING CRIMPING DAMAGE TO POLYMER SCAFFOLD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide both an improved crimping apparatus and a modified process for crimping a polymer scaffold to reduce damage and/or improve a batch yield for polymer scaffold-catheter assemblies following the crimping phase of a production process.SOLUTION: A medical device includes a polymer scaffold 10 crimped to a catheter having an expansion balloon 200. The scaffold is crimped to the catheter by a multi-step process for increasing a scaffold-catheter yield following a crimping sequence. Damage reduction during a crimping sequence includes steps of: modifying blades 22 of a crimper; adopting a multi-step crimping sequence; and inflating a supporting balloon to support the scaffold during crimping.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3