Delivery System for a Self-Expanding Implant

摘要

The present disclosure provides a delivery system for a self-expanding implant which includes a sheath which surrounds and constrains the implant prior to delivery and a confining element which surrounds the sheath during storage. The confining element preferably includes elongate members running axially along the sheath, which compress the sheath and the stent to reduce hoop stress in the system without promoting undesired adhesion between layers of the sheath.

主权项

1. A delivery system for a self-expanding implant to line a bodily lumen, which includes a sheath to hold the implant in a radially compressed configuration prior to deployment in the lumen, when the sheath is withdrawn along the axis of the lumen,
the system further comprising a confining element to surround the sheath during a storage period between placement of the implant within the sheath and said withdrawal of the sheath, the confining element serving to reduce the hoop stress in the sheath during said storage period and being removable from the sheath prior to advancement of the sheath into the bodily lumen, wherein the system includes means to establish spaced pressure relief zones, interposed between the sheath and the confining element, for preferentially carrying the forces acting between the sheath and the confining element, whereby zones of the sheath that lie between adjacent pressure relief zones are relieved of the full magnitude of said forces.