| abstract |
The invention provides a detachable tube deliverable to a body lumen using a catheter. The detachable tube is detached from the catheter using an expandable stent disposed within the tube to break perforations or attachments engineered to connect the tube to the catheter until the stent is expanded. The detached tube and interdisposed stent reside against the lumen surface, the stent holding the tube against the lumen surface, and the stent itself in contact with the interior wall of the tube. The tube can be constructed from extracellular matrix materials or other polymeric therapeutic biodegradable and/or drug eluting materials. Treatment of a lumen surface having a defect is accomplished by delivering the therapeutic tube to the site of defect in the lumen, delivering an expandable stent to within the tube, expanding the stent to break the tube attachments to the delivery catheter, and removing any catheter, guidewires or dilators to leave an expanded stent disposed against the interior wall of the tube, itself being in contact with the luminal surface. Once in place, the tube can impart drug and other bioactive agents to the lumen surface to provide an opportunity for the lumen to heal and otherwise regenerate healthy luminal tissue. |