STENTS FOR BODY LUMENS EXHIBITING PERISTALTIC

摘要

A stent (100) for reinforcement of the lumen of a peristaltic organ, and methods for forming, shaping and heat-treating of such a stent. The stent (100) is formed by knitting preferably a nitinol wire into a pattern of overlapping loops selected such that from a relaxed state each row of loops may shift axially relative to and independently of the rows on either side. A stent is also shown which comprises two resilient cylindrical mesh layers (532, 534) and a semi-permeable compliant membrane (530) such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, sandwiched between. A method is also shown of manufacturing a delivery system for a resilient tubular device such as a stent so that the device can be inserted into the body in a substantially reduced diameter.