Endoluminal encapsulated stent and methods of manufacture and endoluminal delivery

摘要

An encapsulated stent including a stent or structural support layer sandwiched between two biocompatible flexible layers. One preferred embodiment has a stent cover which includes a tubular shaped stent that is concentrically retained between two tubular shaped grafts of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene. Another preferred embodiment has a stent graft which includes at least one stent sandwiched between the ends of two tubular shaped grafts wherein at least a portion of the grafts are unsupported by the stent. Still another embodiment includes an articulating stented graft which includes a plurality of stents spaced apart from one another at a predetermined distance wherein each stent is contained between two elongated biocompatible tubular members. The graft/stent/graft assemblies all have inseparable layers.