Importance

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Abstract

A vascular or endoluminal stent is adapted for deployment in a vessel or tract of a patient to maintain an open lumen therein. The stent includes a biocompatible metal hollow tube having a multiplicity of openings through an open-ended tubular wall thereof, the tube constituting a single member from which the entire stent is fabricated, and a thin, tightly adherent layer of gold overlying the entire exposed surface area of the tube including edges of the openings as well as exterior and interior surfaces and ends of the wall. The layer may include at least a trace of another noble metal to improve the adherence of the layer to the underlying metal surface of the tube. Plural tightly bonded films superposed one atop another may be used to form a composite layer, but in any event the overall layer has a thickness in a range from approximately 1 micron to approximately 20 microns. The gold coating serves to reduce thrombogenicity, enhance fluoroscopic visibility, and reduce allergic reaction relative to that experienced with implantation of stainless steel and other metal stents in the human body.

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First Claim