STENT-LOADING MECHANISM

摘要

A stent-loading mechanism for automatically loading a stent onto a balloon delivery catheter of the kind used in typical percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures. The device comprises a tubular member housing an elongated elastic bladder that surrounds the stent to be loaded. The distal end of the balloon catheter assembly and the stent are placed inside the tubular member and pressurized fluid is applied to the bladder to compress and affix the stent onto the outside of the catheter assembly. Another embodiment of the stent-loading device comprises a series of plates having substantially flat and parallel surfaces that move in a rectilinear fashion with respect to each other. A stent-carrying catheter can be disposed between these surfaces to affix the stent onto the outside of the catheter by providing relative motion between the plates. The plates may have multiple degrees of freedom and force-indicating transducers to measure and indicate the force applied to the catheter during affixation of the stent.