Interconnection between selectively-expandable and self-expandable sections of an ostial stent

1. An ostial stent for placement at the ostium of a patient's vascular system so as to improve vessel patency in the ostial region, said ostial stent comprising:

a stent tube presenting spaced apart proximal and distal stent openings and a longitudinal stent passage that extends between the openings,

said stent tube including a selectively-expandable tube section and a self-expandable tube section,

said self-expandable tube section projecting longitudinally from one of the stent openings, and being automatically expandable to a flared condition for placement within the ostium,

said tube sections being arranged in an end-to-end to configuration to define a connection location spaced between the stent openings; and

a weldable stent connection structure interconnecting the tube sections at the connection location,

said stent connection structure spanning between the tube sections and being formed of a material dissimilar from that of the tube sections.

2. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 1 ,

said tube sections being arranged so as avoid any radial overlap.

3. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 1 ,

a first one of said tube sections including a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart connection arms,

a second one of said tube sections including multiple circumferentially spaced apart connector arms opposite the first-mentioned connection arms to define pairs of interengaging arms,

said stent connection structure including multiple interconnection elements, with each element being fixed to and interconnecting a corresponding one of the pairs of interengaging arms.

4. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 3 ,

said tube sections being arranged so that the interengaging arms do not radially overlap one another.

5. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 3 ,

each of said pairs of interengaging arms presenting opposed element-engaging faces spaced apart in a longitudinal direction.

6. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 3 ,

each of said pairs of interengaging arms presenting opposed element-engaging faces spaced apart in a circumferential direction.

7. An ostial stent for placement at the ostium of a patient's vascular system so as to improve vessel patency in the ostial region, said ostial stent comprising:

a stent tube presenting spaced apart proximal and distal stent openings and a longitudinal stent passage that extends between the openings,

said stent tube including a selectively-expandable tube section and a self-expandable tube section,

said self-expandable tube section projecting longitudinally from one of the stent openings, and being automatically expandable to a flared condition for placement within the ostium,

said tube sections being arranged in an end-to-end to configuration to define a connection location spaced between the stent openings; and

a weldable stent connection structure interconnecting the tube sections at the connection location,

said stent connection structure spanning between the tube sections and being formed of a material dissimilar from that of the tube sections,

a first one of said tube sections including a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart connection arms,

a second one of said tube sections including multiple circumferentially spaced apart connector arms opposite the first-mentioned connection arms to define pairs of interengaging arms,

said stent connection structure including multiple interconnection elements, with each element being fixed to and interconnecting a corresponding one of the pairs of interengaging arms,

said interconnection elements each comprising a circular disk,

said circular disk including a material selected from the group consisting of tantalum, niobium, and combination thereof.

8. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 7 ,

said circular disk being welded to the corresponding one of the pairs of interengaging arms.

9. The ostial stent as claimed in claim 1 ,

said stent connection structure being welded to the tube sections.