COVERED STENT WITH ENCAPSULATED ENDS

摘要

A portion of a covered stent is encapsulated with ePTFE, so that the unencapsulated portion, which is covered by a single ePTFE covering, of the stent unimpaired flexibility. One surface of the stent, either the luminal o r abluminal surface, is covered by a single continuous layer of ePTFE, while limited regions, preferably near the ends of the stent, of the other surface are also covered by ePTFE. The regions covered by ePTFE on both surfaces become encapsulated when the ePTFE of one layer becomes bonded to second layer. By leaving a middle region of the stent unencapsulated, the stent retains flexibility similar to a bare stent, thereby reducing the loading an d deployment forces.