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Abstract

A stent delivery system includes a catheter having a balloon mounted at its distal end for advancement into and withdrawal from a patient's vascular system by manipulation of the catheter from a point external to the patient's body, a lumen extending through the catheter into the balloon to allow the balloon to be selectively inflated and deflated from a pressurizing medium external to the patient's body, and spaced-apart radiopaque projections on the catheter adjacent the proximal and distal ends of the balloon to receive and retain a stent therebetween in overlying relation to the balloon and to provide x-ray markers thereof. The stent is deployed at a designated target site by selectively inflating the balloon to radially expand the diameter of the stent against the vascular wall. The projections are shaped (i) to protect the stent from being dislodged during travel through the vessel, but not to interfere with radial expansion of the stent during balloon inflation and (ii) to avoid injury to tissue of the vascular wall during movement of the catheter through the vessel. A method of fabricating such a stent delivery system includes providing a catheter with an elongate flexible body of size and shape suitable for traversing the vascular system and with a selectively inflatable balloon located distally on the catheter; and employing spaced-apart projections on the catheter at the ends of the balloon to retain a stent which, after the catheter is inserted through the stent, is tightly crimped onto the balloon between the projections, in readiness for radial expansion when delivered to the target site and the balloon inflated. The catheter diameter may be greater between than outside the projections, for tight crimping of the stent on the balloon, and the projections are integral with the catheter including its region of greater diameter.

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