| abstract |
A method for making an encapsulated stent includes providing a first seamless unsintered ePTFE tube, providing a second seamless sintered ePTFE tube, positioning a self-expanding stent between the first and second ePTFE tubes to form an assembly, disposing an ePTFE interlayer member between the first and second ePTFE tubes, and joining the first ePTFE tube to the second ePTFE tube through openings in a wall of the stent by applying first pressure, and then heat, to the assembly. |