Deployment system for an intraluminal medical device

摘要

An intraluminal medical device delivery system (10) that distributes forces more uniformly across an intraluminal medical device (1120) during loading and delivery of the device to an intended treatment site. A support member (1113) provided on an inner member (1111) of a catheter delivery system helps to more uniformly distribute forces across the device by crimping the device over the support member so as to place the support member in a mechanically compressed state during delivery of the device to the intended treatment site. The support member is preferably comprised of a material having a modulus of elasticity that increases when the material is compressed. The mechanical nature of the support member provides increased stability to the device during loading and delivery thereof without providing heat or other preformed or additional mechanical members to the support member. Repositioning of the device is available due to the stability of the device when mounted on the support member. The intraluminal medical device can be a stent, a stent graft, segments thereof, or a series of such stents, stent grafts, or segments thereof.