Stent Expanding device

1 . A stent expanding device for expanding the diameter of a stent comprising:

an expansion mandrel having an internally threaded internal channel, a side and two open ends, and at least one longitudinal slot along the side; and

an expansion pin having a cylindrical body and an externally threaded tapered end configured for rotatably engaging the internal channel.

2 . A stent expanding device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one longitudinal slot is disposed generally parallel to at least one other adjacent longitudinal slot.

3 . The stent expanding device of claim 1 , further comprising an expansion crown having teeth configured to engage the longitudinal slots, and a bore.

4 . The stent expanding device of claim 3 , wherein the expansion crown is configured to be removably attached to the expansion pin and wherein the teeth are located at substantially evenly spaced intervals on the expansion crown.

5 . The stent expanding device of claim 4 , wherein the expansion pin further comprises:

an upper cylindrical body having a side face and a top face;

a closed channel in the side face; and

an open channel in the top face.

6 . The stent expanding device of claim 3 , wherein the mandrel includes overlapping members configured to fit into a receiving groove in the mandrel.

7 . The stent expanding device of claim 3 , further including a rounding rod.

8 . The stent expanding device of claim 7 , wherein the expansion pin includes a bore extending a length of the expansion pin.

9 . The stent expanding device of claim 8 , wherein the rounding rod is sized to be received in the bore of the expansion pin.

10 . A stent expanding device for expanding a diameter of a stent comprising:

an expansion mandrel having an internally threaded cavity, a side, two open ends, and a plurality of longitudinal slots along the side, the slots commencing at a keyhole in the side of the mandrel, and each consecutive slot terminating at opposite ends of the mandrel;

an expansion pin having a cylindrical body and a threaded tapered end configured to rotatably engage the internally threaded cavity;

an expansion crown having teeth and a bore, the teeth being configured to slide into the termini of the slots, the bore being configured to receive the cylindrical body of the expansion pin; and

a rounding rod configured to be received into the cavity of the mandrel.

11 . A stent expanding device for expanding a stent into a tapered stent comprising:

a mandrel having a closed end and an open end, a threaded tapered internal channel, and slots along a side of the tapered mandrel, the slots extending from the closed end of the mandrel and terminating at and continuous with the open end of the mandrel; and

a tapered expansion pin having threads disposed on a tapered cylindrical body, wherein the tapered expansion pin is configured to insert into the open end of the mandrel and radially expand the mandrel as the expansion pin is rotated.

12 . The stent expanding device of claim 11 , wherein the threads of the cylindrical body are configured to threadingly engage the threaded internal channel of the mandrel.

13 . The stent expanding device of claim 11 , further comprising a contraction ring having a circular passageway, the passageway configured to receive the mandrel.

14 . The stent expanding device of claim 11 , wherein rotation of the tapered expansion pin in a first direction causes the mandrel to radially expand and rotation of the tapered expansion pin in a second direction causes the mandrel to radially contract.

15 . The stent expanding device of claim 11 , further including a rotation controller for rotating the threaded expansion pin.

16 . A method of using a stent expanding device comprising:

sliding at least one stent onto an internally threaded mandrel to form a loaded mandrel;

loading at least one externally threaded expansion pin into an internally threaded mandrel; and

rotating a portion of the expansion pin inside the mandrel, whereby the at least one externally threaded expansion pin is advanced into the internally threaded mandrel and the mandrel radially expands to form an expanded stent.

17 . The method of using a stent expanding device of claim 16 , wherein the expansion pin is advanced into the mandrel in a controlled fashion.

18 . The method of using a stent expanding device of claim 16 , further including calibrating the relationship between the rotation of the expansion pin and the radial expansion of the mandrel.

19 . The method of using a stent expanding device of claim 16 , wherein the expansion pin is manually rotated.

20 . The method of using a stent expanding device of claim 16 , wherein the expansion pin is rotated by a motor.