We claim:
1. A system for instructing a student at a remote location comprising:
(a) a teaching center having a computer;
(b) a student computer at the remote location in communication with the teaching center computer for presentation of instructional material; and
(c) student identification means associated with the student computer having means for identification and confirming the presence of a particular student.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said teaching center and remote locations are in voice communication.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein said student identification means comprises biometric means.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein said student identification system comprises a web camera.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein said system includes software for course curricula, student tracking, student attendance and progress.
6. The system of claim 3 wherein said biometric means are selected from the group consisting of fingerprint scan, voice recognition and anatomical scan.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein said student identification means require the student to periodically perform a manipulation during the instructional course period.
8. The system of claim 9 wherein said teaching center provides live scheduled instructional periods during which students can participate in a Q and A exchange.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein said instructional material is configured on an electronic recording media.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein the electronic recording media is a CD.
11. The system of claim I wherein said instructional material includes hyper links to selected web sites.
12. An instructional system for instructing a student comprising:
(a) a instructional center having a computer;
(b) a student computer at a remote location for delivering instructional material;
(c) unique student identification means for identifying the presence of a particular student and activating the system permitting access to the material only when said student identification is confirmed; and
(d) on-going recognition means for recognizing the presence of the particular student during the instructional period.
13. The system of claim 12 wherein said on-going recognition means provides data which is stored to establish an audit trail.
14. The system of claim 12 wherein said instruction center is selected from the group consisting of private schools, technical schools, public schools or professional continuing education centers.
15. The system of claim 12 wherein said instructional center and said student computer are in communication is via a global computer communications network.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein said student computer is linked to selected web sites to provide instructional material to the student.
17. The system of claim 12 wherein said computer at said instructional center can provide both instructional material and testing to the student.
18. The system of claim 12 wherein said recognition means is selected from the group consisting of biometrics, body scan, voice recognition and image recognition.
19. A system for instructing a student at a remote location comprising:
(a) means for acquiring and storing instructional material;
(b) remote means for accessing said material; and
(c) verification means for confirming the presence of a particular student at said remote means.
20. The system of claim 19 including a machine readable instruction for performing steps (a) to (c).
21. The system of claim 15 wherein a comprehensive and fully integrated computer and global communication system implements, operates and administers the system.
22. An instructional system for instructing a student comprising:
(a) a student computer programmed to deliver instructional material to the student
(b) student identification means associated with the student computer for identifying and confirming the presence of a particular student.
23. The instructional system of claim 22 where said student identification means comprise biometrics.
24. The instructional system of claim 23 wherein said instructional material is delivered via electronic media.
25. The instructional system of claim 23 wherein a comprehensive and fully integrated computer and global communication system operates and administers the system.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A stent deployment system for deploying one or more stents in a blood vessel having a luminal taper, the stent deployment system comprising:
an elongated catheter shaft having a proximal end and a distal end;
an expandable member mounted to the catheter shaft near the distal end, the expandable member having an outer surface and a proximal extremity and a distal extremity, the proximal extremity having a first expanded diameter and the distal extremity having a second expanded diameter, the first expanded diameter being larger than the second expanded diameter in general correspondence to the luminal taper; and
a plurality of separately deployable stent segments slidably positionable on the proximal and distal extremities for expansion therewith;
wherein at least a first and a second of the stent segments can be expanded simultaneously by the expandable member, the first stent segment being positioned on the proximal extremity and expanded to a larger diameter than the second stent segment positioned on the distal extremity.
2. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second extremities of the expandable member has an axial length selected to accommodate a pre-selected number of stent segments.
3. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein the pre-selected number of stent segments is one.
4. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second extremities has a constant outer diameter.
5. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second extremities has a tapered outer diameter.
6. The stent deployment system of claim 5 wherein both of the first and second extremities are tapered.
7. The stent deployment system of claim 4 wherein another of the first and second extremities has a constant outer diameter.
8. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein the proximal and distal extremities are contiguous.
9. The stent deployment system of claim 8 wherein the outer surface is continuously tapered along the proximal and distal extremities.
10. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein the expandable member has a proximal end portion fixed to the catheter shaft at a first location and a distal end portion fixed to the catheter shaft at a second location, the proximal end portion having a reverse taper between the first location and the proximal extremity, the distal end portion having a distal taper between the distal extremity and the second location, the expandable member being tapered between the proximal end portion and the distal end portion at a slope substantially less than the slope of the distal taper.
11. The stent deployment system of claim 9 wherein the outer surface is tapered at a slope of about 0.5 to 5%.
12. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein the first diameter is about 3\u20135 mm and the second diameter is about 2\u20134 mm.
13. The stent deployment system of claim 1 further comprising a pusher for slidably advancing the stent segments distally relative to the expandable member.
14. The stent deployment system of claim 13 wherein the pusher comprises a tubular member slidably disposed over the catheter shaft and having a distal end for engaging a stent segment.
15. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein the expandable member is adapted to expand a first plurality of stent segments simultaneously while a second plurality of stent segments remains unexpanded.
16. The stent deployment system of claim 15 further comprising a sheath slidably disposed over at least a proximal portion of the expandable member, the second plurality of stent segments being disposed on the proximal portion, the sheath being configured to restrain expansion of the proximal portion and the second plurality of stents.
17. The stent deployment system of claim 1 wherein the outer surface comprises a series of steps of decreasing outer diameter as the distal end is approached.
18. The stent deployment system of claim 17 wherein each step has an axial length selected to accommodate a pre-selected number of stent segments.
19. The stent deployment system of claim 18 wherein the pre-selected number is one.
20. A stent deployment system for deploying one or more stents in a blood vessel having a luminal taper, the stent deployment system comprising:
an elongated catheter shaft having a proximal end and a distal end;
an expandable member mounted to the catheter shaft near the distal end, the expandable member being tapered when expanded from a first expanded diameter in a proximal extremity thereof to a second expanded diameter in a distal extremity thereof in general correspondence to the luminal taper; and
a plurality of separately deployable stent segments slidably positionable over the expandable member to locations on the proximal and distal extremities for expansion therewith;
wherein at least a first and a second of the stent segments can be expanded simultaneously by the expandable member, the first stent segment being positioned on the proximal extremity and expanded to a larger diameter than the second stent segment positioned on the distal extremity.
21. The stent deployment system of claim 20 wherein the expandable member is tapered continuously from the first expanded diameter to the second expanded diameter.
22. The stent deployment system of claim 20 wherein the expandable member has a proximal end portion fixed to the catheter shaft at a first location and a distal end portion fixed to the catheter shaft at a second location, the proximal end portion having a reverse taper between the first location and the proximal extremity, the distal end portion having a distal taper between the distal extremity and the second location, the expandable member being tapered between the proximal end portion and the distal end portion at a slope substantially less than the slope of the distal taper.
23. The stent deployment system of claim 20 wherein the expandable member is tapered at a slope of about 0.5\u20135%.
24. The stent deployment system of claim 20 wherein the first diameter is about 3\u20135 mm and the second diameter is about 2\u20134 mm.
25. The stent deployment system of claim 20 further comprising a pusher for slidably advancing the stent segments distally relative to the expandable member.
26. The stent deployment system of claim 25 wherein the pusher comprises a tubular member slidably disposed over the catheter shaft and having a distal end for engaging a stent segment.
27. The stent deployment system of claim 20 wherein the expandable member is adapted to expand a first plurality of stent segments simultaneously while a second plurality of stent segments remains unexpanded.
28. The stent deployment system of claim 27 further comprising a sheath slidably disposed over at least a proximal portion of the expandable member, the second plurality of stent segments being disposed on the proximal portion, the sheath being configured to restrain expansion of the proximal portion and the second plurality of stents.