Abstract: An artificial blood vessel 10 comprises: an artificial blood vessel body 12; and a carbon material film 11 that covers the inner wall of the artificial blood vessel body 12. The inner wall which is covered by the carbon material film 11 is configured so that the water vapor adsorption isotherm shows desorption hysteresis.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for preventing the formation of calcified deposits or inside an isolated biological matrix comprising the step of contacting said isolated biological matrix with a solution comprising a mixture of phenolic compounds.

Abstract: Medical devices and method for making and using the same are disclosed. An example medical device may include implantable medical device for use along the biliary and/or pancreatic tract. The implantable medical device may include a tubular member having a first end configured to be disposed within the duodenum of a patient and a second end configured to be disposed adjacent to a pancreatic duct and/or bile duct. The tubular member may have a body including one or more wire filaments that are woven together. The tubular member may also have an outer surface with a longitudinal channel formed therein.

Abstract: A radially expandable, tubular stent, includes a first section having a first crush resistance force and a second section have a second crush resistance force, wherein the first crush resistance force is less than the second crush resistance force. The first section is connected to the second section to form a tube, connection of the first and second sections extending in an axial direction of the tube.

Abstract: Method of making a musculoskeletal tissue reconstruction implant by warp knitting an implant of a biodegradable polymeric material to form a porous matrix or scaffold having a tensile stiffness at least by 50% lower than the tensile stiffness of the musculoskeletal tissue the implant is configured to reconstruct.

Abstract: Multi-layer modular capacitors adapted to be electrically coupled to each other and formed into a structural piece that is electrically coupled to an electrical device requiring a power supply.

Abstract: Various examples relate to a transcatheter delivery system including a sheath, a delivery catheter, and an implantable device (e.g., a prosthetic valve, a stent, a stent graft, occluder, or vascular filter) maintained in a collapsed configuration by the delivery catheter. The delivery catheter includes a plurality of fiber guides separated by one or more reduced profile sections each having a smaller transverse outer profile than the transverse outer profiles of the fiber guides.

Abstract: A biodegradable magnesium alloy nerve conduit for nerve defect repair has multiple lines of through holes in the tube wall thereof, the through holes in each line are axially arranged along a circular tube at equal distances, and the through holes in adjacent lines are arranged in a staggered way. A method for preparing the nerve conduit includes steps of: (step 1) processing a 45-degree conical surface at one end of a magnesium alloy tube blank, carrying out extrusion, and obtaining a magnesium alloy intermediate tube material; (step 2) obtaining a capillary tube after carrying out multi-pass rolling and drawing on the magnesium alloy intermediate tube material; (step 3) carrying out stress relief annealing on the capillary tube, laser cutting and punching, and obtaining a porous conduit; and (step 4) carrying out acid pickling on the porous conduit, and then carrying out electrochemical polishing treatment, and obtaining the nerve conduit.

Abstract: L-Polylactic acid and D-Polylactic acid biodegradable biopolymers are combined with torrefied biomass and a plasticizer to create a biodegradable cardstock composition. The biodegradable cardstock composition provides an alternative to conventional plastic cardstocks, which are manufactured using petroleum-based materials such polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polystyrene (PS). The biodegradable cardstock described herein can be incorporated into a variety of end products such as key cards, driver licenses, security badges, calling cards, and other plastic cards, including those that have a magnetic strip containing stored data such as credit and debit cards.

Abstract: The present invention discloses methods and compositions for treating or ameliorating a condition associated with increased or decreased myofibroblast activities and use thereof.

Abstract: Treating a treatment area in the vasculature includes a first catheter adapted for positioning at the treatment area, said first catheter including a first balloon having a transient radiopaque material corresponding to the treatment area. A second catheter adapted for positioning at the treatment area includes a treatment that substantially matches the transient radiopaque material, preferably so that the length and/or position of the treatment corresponds to the length and/or position of the transient radiopaque material. Related kits, assemblies, and methods are also described.

Abstract: An object to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method for preparing a composition prepared by firmly coating the surface of a material with a biopolymer, and a composition prepared by this method wherein the surface of a material is firmly coated with a biopolymer. The present invention provides a method for coating with a biopolymer, which comprises coating the surface of a synthetic polymer with a biopolymer dissolved in a solvent comprising an organic fluorine compound.

Abstract: This device includes a hollow support delimiting, in the vicinity of a distal end, a transverse retention opening. It further includes an endoprosthesis which can be deployed between a state retracted against the support and an expanded state. The device further includes a filamentary connection forming a clamping ring surrounding the endoprosthesis and forming a loop engaged in the support through the retention opening. A retention rod mounted to be movable in the support, and the retention rod has a hook for retaining the loop. The displacement of the retention rod from a release position to a retention position brings about the tightening of the clamping ring.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes systems for endoluminal devices utilizing a sleeve for constraining an expandable device toward a constrained configuration suitable for endoluminal delivery to a treatment site along vasculature; and a mechanism for retracting at least a portion of the sleeve.

Abstract: Implantable medical devices having a metallic surface coated with a bioabsorbable primer polymer layer under a bioabsorbable drug polymer layer. Thus, in addition to the degradation of the drug polymer layer, there is degradation of the primer layer. The underlying metallic framework may or may not degrade depending on whether bioabsorbable or biostable metals are chosen.

Abstract: A sealable vascular system includes an endovascular implant to be delivered in a compressed or folded state to an implantation site. The endovascular implant includes a tubular implant body and a sealable circumferential collar at said tubular implant body and including a variable sealing device and a control lead traversing from said variable sealing device to a user for controlling said variable sealing device by the user, said variable sealing device and said control lead being cooperatively operable to reversibly expand and contract said sealable circumferential collar such that said sealable circumferential collar is circumferentially adjustable during deployment thereof to achieve a repositionable fluid-tight seal between said sealable circumferential collar and the internal walls of the implantation site.

Abstract: A system may include an endoluminal prosthesis and a guide wire. The prosthesis may include a tubular body including a graft material wall, a proximal end opening, a distal end opening, and a lumen extending longitudinally therein. The prosthesis may include first and second fenestrations in the graft material wall. The first and second fenestrations may be spaced from one another circumferentially about the tubular body. The guide wire may have a first end and a second end both extending from a region proximal of the proximal end opening. The guide wire may enter the proximal end opening, exit the first fenestration, partially traverse an exterior surface of the prosthesis, enter the second fenestration, and exit the proximal end opening. No portion of the guide wire may extend distally beyond the distal end opening.

Abstract: A medical device-includes a polymer stent crimped to a catheter having an expansion balloon. The stent is crimped to the balloon by a process that includes heating the stent to a temperature below the polymer's glass transition temperature to improve stent retention without adversely affecting the mechanical characteristics of the stent when later deployed to support a body lumen.

Abstract: Medical devices, such as endoprostheses, and methods of making the devices are described. In some embodiments, a medical device includes an elongated hollow body formed of a polymeric matrix containing one or more regions of a pre-determined weight percent of carbon nanotubes in general alignment in a pre-determined orientation. The medical device can have a compressed state with a first transverse dimension and an expanded state with a second relatively greater transverse dimension.

Abstract: A tubular graft device is provided comprising a tubular member and a fiber matrix of one or more polymers about a circumference of the tubular member. The matrix may be electrospun onto the tubular tissue. In one embodiment, the tubular tissue is from a vein, such as a harvested saphenous vein, useful as an arterial graft, for example and without limitation, in a coronary artery bypass procedure. Also provided is method of preparing a tubular graft and connecting the graft between a first body space and a second body space, such as the aorta and a location on an occluded coronary artery, distal to the occlusion.

Abstract: A radiation and radiochemically sterilized, multi-component, fiber-reinforced composite, absorbable/disintegratable urinogenital stent, such as an endoureteral stent, with radiomodulated residence time in the biological site of 1 to 10 weeks depending on the high energy radiation dose used for sterilization.

Abstract: A medical device- includes a polymer stent crimped to a catheter having an expansion balloon. The stent is crimped to the balloon by a process that includes heating the stent to a temperature below the polymer's glass transition temperature to improve stent retention without adversely affecting the mechanical characteristics of the stent when later deployed to support a body lumen.

Abstract: In accordance with various aspects of the invention, implantable and insertable medical devices are provided, which contain one or more polymeric regions. In one aspect, the polymeric regions comprise (a) a block copolymer that comprises a polyaromatic block and a polyalkene block admixed with (b) a sulfonated high Tg polymer. In another aspect, the polymeric regions comprise a block copolymer that comprises (a) a sulfonated polymer block and (b) fluorinated polymer block.

Abstract: An endoprosthesis fabricated from multi-phase ferrous steel. Endoprostheses can include a variety of devices such as staples, orthodontic wires, heart valves, filter devices, and stents, many of which devices are diametrically expandable devices. Multi-phase ferrous steels include dual phase steels and transformation induced plasticity steels (TRIP steels).

Abstract: An apparatus for athermal ablation of a workpiece. The apparatus may include a laser device to direct a laser beam at the workpiece to remove a plurality of sections from the workpiece by athermal ablation. The removal may occur in a plurality of discrete motions that cause the laser beam to trace along outer perimeters of the sections in a specific order maintaining mechanical stability of the plurality of sections. The apparatus may further include a process gas nozzle to deliver process gas coaxially with the laser beam to clear debris and cool the workpiece, and a workpiece holder to hold and maneuver the workpiece during the removal of the plurality of sections.

Abstract: Provided is a stent wherein the water-swellable polymer fine particles applied thereto rarely peel off even when the stent is deformed or when the water-swellable polymer fine particles are swollen. A stent wherein a plurality of water-swellable polymer fine particles are chemically fixed on the stent surface in a dispersed state is provided.

Abstract: The use of nucleating agents to manufacture polymeric stents is disclosed. The resulting stents may have increased crystallinity, decreased crystal size, increased mechanical properties, and faster degradation times.

Abstract: Coatings for a surface, especially a priming coating, of the present invention have been found to be durable, resistant to oxidative degradation, erosion and depolymerisation, stable to sterilization and low particulating, and are easily applied to the required surface of a substrate in a surface-independent manner. Such coatings, when used as priming coatings to be coated with a subsequent coating, in at least some embodiments, form exterior coatings which are also highly durable and are stable to sterilisation and aging.

Abstract: A method of creating a thermochromic artificial blood vessel includes physically cross-linking a polyvinyl alcohol solution in a mold shaped to mimic a blood vessel to create an artificial blood vessel. The artificial tissue is then chemically cross-linked with a solution including a chemical cross-linking reagent. A coagulation solution is then applied to the artificial blood vessel to both inhibit the chemical cross-linking and promote physical cross-linking of the artificial blood vessel. The artificial blood vessel can be used to test an ablation catheter. The vessel, when heated by the ablation catheter, changes color and/or transparency at locations where the temperature of artificial blood vessel increases.

Abstract: A bypass device for influencing blood pressure, including an implant with a volumetric chamber, having a connector or connecting means for connecting the volumetric chamber to a natural cardiovascular system, and having an adaptor or adaptation means, by which a change in volume of a volume of the volumetric chamber is enabled or effected upon a pressure change in the cardiovascular system or in the volumetric chamber. According to this invention, a change in volume in a lower pressure range between 50 mmHg and a pressure threshold value amounting to at least 100 mmHg amounts to at most 10 cm3, and in an upper pressure range between the pressure threshold value and 150 mmHg amounts to at least 10 cm3. With the device according to this invention, high blood pressure can be reduced in a carefully directed way.

Abstract: A vascular prosthesis and method are disclosed comprising a first flexible stent having a lattice structure with a compacted configuration and an expanded configuration, a second flexible stent inside the first flexible stent to form a tubular structure, a first film layer of graft material such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sandwiched between the first and second flexible stents, and a second film layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sandwiched between the first and second flexible stents, the second layer having a higher rigidity and a lower plasticity than the first layer.

Abstract: A bioabsorbable blend comprising poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and a phosphorylcholine group-containing copolymer (PPCP) capable of enduring the mechanical strength of blood vessel walls and applicable for fabricating cardiovascular devices was developed. The blend acts as a scaffold to support blood vessel walls during vascular healing and undergoes biodegradation in vivo after vascular healing is complete. Furthermore, the blend can prevent the formation and adsorption of thrombi.

Abstract: A medical device-includes a polymer scaffold crimped to a catheter having an expansion balloon. The scaffold is crimped to the balloon by a process that includes inflating the delivery balloon during a diameter reduction to improve scaffold retention. A crimping temperature is maintained at about the onset of glass transition of the polymer material to facilitate more rapid stabilization of mechanical properties in the scaffold following crimping.

Abstract: A medical device-includes a polymer stent crimped to a catheter having an expansion balloon. The stent is crimped to the balloon by a process that includes heating the stent to a temperature below the polymer's glass transition temperature to improve stent retention without adversely affecting the mechanical characteristics of the stent when later deployed to support a body lumen.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for fabricating an implantable medical device to increase biocompatibility of the device, the method comprising: heat setting a polymer construct, wherein the polymer construct is at a temperature range of from about Tg to about 0.6(Tm?Tg)+Tg such that the set polymer construct comprises a crystalline structure having crystals at a size less than about 2 microns; and fabricating an implantable medical device from the heat set polymer construct.

Abstract: A method of fabricating an implantable medical device that includes deforming and heating setting a polymer construct, for use in fabricating the device, in a temperature range in which the crystal nucleation rate is greater than the crystal growth rate is disclosed.

Abstract: A device for treatment of mitral annulus dilation is disclosed, wherein the device comprises two states. In a first of these states the device is insertable into the coronary sinus and has a shape of the coronary sinus. When positioned in the coronary sinus, the device is transferable to the second state assuming a reduced radius of curvature, whereby the radius of curvature of the coronary sinus and the radius of curvature as well as the circumference of the mitral annulus is reduced.

Abstract: Provided herein re a composition and a coating or a device (e.g., absorbable stent) that includes a PEGylated hyaluronic acid and a PEGylated non-hyaluronic acid biocompatible polymer and the methods of use thereof.

Abstract: An implantable prosthesis, including a generally tubular substrate and a continuous shape memory member disposed over the outer surface of the substrate. The shape memory member may include a series of zig-zag struts alternating between a first strut with a first length and a second strut with a second length different from the first length. A graft member may be positioned over the substrate and shape memory member.

Abstract: The present invention provides a base material which can be formed into valved lumen shape tissue having an ampulla and a leaflet consisting of body tissue. Specifically, the base material includes a first column 5 that forms an upstream tubular section 4 of a blood vessel 3, a second column 7 that forms a downstream tubular section 6 of the blood vessel 3, a plurality of bulges 10 for forming an ampulla 8 and a leaflet 9 of the blood vessel 3, and engagement means 11 that causes the bulge 10 to engage the first column 5 and/or the second column 7. The engagement means 11 includes recesses 15a and 15b in axial end surfaces of one or both of the first column 5 and the second column 7, and an engagement section 18 that overhangs from a bulge body 17 and engages the recesses. An outer peripheral surface of the body 17 of the bulge 10 is an ampulla forming surface 20, and a gap provided between the bulge body 17 and the first column 5 and/or the second column 7 is a leaflet forming section 22.

Abstract: A self-sealing vascular graft with kink resistance is described. The vascular graft includes a substrate that can be ePTFE, having a self-sealing region that may include several layers of material. The central section of the vascular graft may be constructed differently from surrounding self-sealing regions, in order to provide kink resistance following the clamping of the graft. Also described is a graft with a flared cuff attached to one or both ends, the attachment or transition region including reinforcement beading.

Abstract: The disclosure provides biodegradable implantable devices such as a stent comprising a biodegradable polymeric wherein the polymeric material is treated to control crystallinity and/or Tg. The stent is capable to expand at body temperature from a crimped configuration to a deployed diameter and have sufficient strength to support a body lumen.

Abstract: Disclosed is a medical device treated with a phenolic compound and a process for treating a device with the phenolic compound. For example, a collagen or elastin-based scaffold can be treated with pentagalloyl glucose (PGG). The treated scaffold can become resistant to glycoxidative stress associated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that are present in a hyperglycemic environments associated with diabetes mellitus. The treated scaffold can exhibit a reduced increase in stiffness as compared to an untreated scaffold. The treated scaffold can also exhibit reduced inflammation without negatively affecting the ability of the scaffold to remodel in vivo.

Abstract: Bioabsorbable scaffolds having high crush recoverability, high fracture resistance, and reduced or no recoil due to self expanding properties at physiological conditions are disclosed The scaffolds are made from a block copolymer of PLLA and a hydrophilic polymer.

Abstract: Methods for increasing the fracture resistance of a polymer stent's drug-polymer coating and scaffolding including applying a coating and crimping using techniques that increase the resistance to fracture in the coating layer and scaffolding and scaffolding.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a device that permits a permanent aperture to be formed in a wall, or other partition, of an implantable medical device. The present invention maintains the continuity and fluid-retaining properties of the implantable medical device by providing a breachable barrier material fully covering an opening delimited by a deformable framework. The invention is accessed with conventional interventional surgical instruments that disrupt and displace the barrier material. Following disruption of the barrier material, the opening is enlarged with surgical instruments to form a permanent framed aperture in the wall of the implantable medical device. The permanent framed aperture provides fluid communication across the wall of the implantable medical device.

Abstract: The invention relates to scaffolds for artificial heart valves and vascular structures comprising a biocompatible block copolymer. A method and means for producing said scaffold are also provided.

Abstract: Stents or scaffolds made from magnesium or magnesium alloys including additives or barrier coatings that modify the corrosion rate of the stent are disclosed. Methods of forming barrier coatings that modify the corrosion rate of the stent are disclosed.

Abstract: Copolymer-modified nanoparticles produced by a process in which nanoparticles are ablated by laser radiation from a surface of a substrate in a liquid include an amphiphilic copolymer.

Abstract: This invention relates to implantable medical devices, such as stents, fabricated from hyperbranched-like polymers, comb-like polymers, star polymers, dendrimer-like star polymers, dendrimers, and mixtures thereof.