| abstract |
A multi-component intraluminal prosthesis is adapted for insertion into and in vivo assembly within a body lumen to repair the lumen, the components including secure and/or fluid-tight mating sections. The prosthesis comprises a female mating member comprising a main body portion, a funnel-shaped end, and a sealing segment connecting the main body portion to the funnel-shaped end; and a male mating member adapted for in vivo assembly with the sealing segment of the female mating member. The sealing segment may be essentially cylindrical or it may taper with decreasing diameter from the main body to the funnel-shaped end. The sealing segment and adjacent funnel-shaped end may together form an hourglass-shaped end. A biocompatible graft material may cover the inner surface of the funnel-shaped end. To secure a fluid-tight seal, the outer surface of the male member and the inner surface of the female member are covered with a biocompatible graft material in their respective mating segments. The prosthesis may form a bifurcated intraluminal prosthesis adapted, for example, for deployment in the infra-renal aorta and the iliac arteries, where the main body component forms the main aortic body, the integral first leg member forms the first iliac segment, and the second leg member forms the second iliac segment. An alternative prosthesis includes a primary member having a main body portion, a first dependant member attached radially thereto, and a female mating portion dependant from the main body portion, and a second dependant member having a male mating portion adapted to mate with the female mating portion. |