METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING AN ENDOVASCULAR GRAFT SECTION

摘要

A device and method for the manufacture of medical devices, specifically, endovascular grafts, or sections thereof. Layers of fusible material are disposed upon a shape forming member and seams formed between the layers in a configuration that can produce inflatable channels in desired portions of the graft. After creation of the seams, the fusible material of the inflatable channels may be fixed in a mold to constrain an outer layer or layers of fusible material while the channels are being expanded. A joint may be produced on the endovascular graft by folding a flap of a flexible material portion of an endovascular graft about a portion of an expandable member to form a loop portion. The flap may be secured in the loop configuration so that tensile force on the expandable member is transferred into a shear force on the fixed portion of the flap.