1. A stent comprising:
a stent main body that is made of a metal; and
a radiopaque marker that is made of a complete solid solution alloy having a corrosion potential of \xb1200 mV of a corrosion potential of the metal of the stent main body.
2. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the complete solid solution alloy is constituted with metals of at least two types which are selected from a group including molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), tungsten (W), vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), palladium (Pd), nickel (Ni) and rhodium (Rh).
3. The stent according to claim 2,
wherein the complete solid solution alloy is selected from a group including Mo\u2014Ta, Nb\u2014W, Ta\u2014W, Mo\u2014W, Nb\u2014Ta, V\u2014W, Co\u2014Pd, Mo\u2014Nb, Mo\u2014V, Ni\u2014Pd and Ni\u2014Rh.
4. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the corrosion potential of the complete solid solution alloy is \xb1150 mV with respect to the corrosion potential of the metal.
5. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the metal of the stent main body is selected from a group including stainless steel, a cobalt-based alloy and a nickel-titanium-based alloy.
6. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the metal of the stent main body is a cobalt-based alloy; and
wherein the complete solid solution alloy is 75 Mo-25 Ta, 50 Mo-50 Ta, 50 Nb-50 W, 25 Nb-75 W, or 50 Ta-50 W, wherein each number indicates % by mole, adding up 100% by mole in total.
7. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the metal of the stent main body is stainless steel; and
wherein the complete solid solution alloy is 75 Mo-25 Ta, 50 Mo-50 Ta, 50 Nb-50 W, 25 Nb-75 W, or 50 Ta-50 W, wherein each number indicates % by mole, adding up 100% by mole in total.
8. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the stent is a balloon-expandable stent or a self-expandable stent.
9. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the stent main body is a cylindrical body in which both terminal portions are open, and wherein the cylindrical body extends in a longitudinal direction between both of the terminal portions.
10. The stent according to claim 9,
wherein a side surface of the cylindrical body has multiple notch portions forming an outer side surface and an inner side surface, which are configured to communicate with each other.
11. The stent according to claim 10,
wherein the cylindrical body is structured to expand and contract in a radial direction of the cylindrical body in response to deformation of the notch portions, and is configured to be placed inside a blood vessel of a living body lumen.
12. The stent according to claim 10,
wherein the cylindrical body includes a plurality of rhombus-shaped elements, which form an annular unit in which the plurality of rhombus-shaped elements are continuously arranged and linked in a short axial direction of the plurality of rhombus-shaped elements.
13. The stent according to claim 12, comprising
a plurality of adjacent annular units, which are connected via one or more line-shaped connection members.
14. The stent according to claim 1,
wherein the radiopaque marker is provided at an end portion of the stent main body.
15. The stent according to claim 14,
wherein radiopaque markers are provided at both end portions of the stent main body.
16. A stent comprising:
a stent main body that is made of a metal having a corrosion potential, wherein the stent main body is a cylindrical body in which both terminal portions are open, and which extends in a longitudinal direction between both of the terminal portions, and wherein the cylindrical body includes a plurality of annular units, each of the plurality of annular units includes a plurality of rhombus-shaped elements, which are continuously arranged and linked in a short axial direction of the plurality of rhombus-shaped elements; and
at least one radiopaque marker that is made of a complete solid solution alloy having a corrosion potential, and wherein the at least one radiopaque marker is located within at least one of the plurality of annular units, and the corrosion potential of the radiopaque marker is \xb1200 mV of the corrosion potential of the metal of the stent main body.
17. The stent according to claim 16,
wherein the complete solid solution alloy is constituted with metals of at least two types which are selected from a group including molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), tungsten (W), vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), palladium (Pd), nickel (Ni) and rhodium (Rh).
18. The stent according to claim 17,
wherein the complete solid solution alloy is selected from a group including Mo\u2014Ta, Nb\u2014W, Ta\u2014W, Mo\u2014W, Nb\u2014Ta, V\u2014W, Co\u2014Pd, Mo\u2014Nb, Mo\u2014V, Ni\u2014Pd and Ni\u2014Rh.
19. The stent according to claim 16,
wherein the metal of the stent main body is selected from a group including stainless steel, a cobalt-based alloy and a nickel-titanium-based alloy.
20. A method of exhibiting radiopaque properties in a stent comprising:
placing a radiopaque marker that is made of a complete solid solution alloy in a stent main body that is made of a metal, and wherein a corrosion potential of the radiopaque marker is \xb1200 mV of a corrosion potential of the metal of the stent main body.
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. The System is a methodology and process for monitoring, measuring and Alerting in real time Customer Experience’s via a distributed, cooperative and concurrent process framework
2. The System wherein an in situ Point of Experience (POE) user process or user processes (previously referred to as an appliance) for displaying in real time the intended query or queries related to measuring the customer experience.
3. The System provides a means for uniquely assigning a specific survey or surveys and their related queries and responses to specific user processes in real time; The System is thus able to assign user process specific surveys, such that all queries and their responses can be specified and tracked for each and every user process independently from other user processes in real time.
A remote server process or processes exist with the appropriate framework in place to facilitate a user process or processes to request (pull) a query or queries from a remote system process in real-time
A remote system process or processes exist with the appropriate framework in place to facilitate a user process or processes to send a customer query response or responses to the system process or processes in real-time.
4. The System wherein the System provides a means for uniquely assigning a specific survey or surveys and their related queries and responses to specific user processes in real time; The System is thus able to assign user process specific surveys, such that all queries and their responses can be specified and tracked for each and every user process independently from other user processes in real time
5. A persistent communication channel established between the user process or processes (POE) and the remote system process or processes via a suitable network transport to facilitate real-time distribution of queries related data and the acquisition and collection of query responses and thus allow prompt action or actions be taken based on those responses in real time.
A suitable security policy is in place and enforced for all communications between any user process and remote system process.
A suitable security policy is in place and enforced to allow only legitimate processes to establish communication with a user or system process
6. A system process or processes wherein exist with the means to store in a persistent and secure fashion, all data related to a survey or surveys and their respective queries and related data including query responses
7. The System wherein a framework of cooperative, concurrent and independent remote processes to facilitate the monitoring, analysis, administration and reporting of any and all data related to surveys and their related responses in adherence to specified client and programmatically defined constraints and parameters in real-time
8. The System wherein an administrative framework exists to permit the design and modification of surveys and their related queries and set of possible responses programmatically in real-time with the ability to offer a plurality of customizable questionsqueries regarding the services comprising but not limited to:
1. Locationtimedate stamp data for the customer
2. Questions regarding their experiences; (iii) concurrent means of measurement of satisfaction level
3. Specifying report and Alert criteria and constraints to permit the real time monitoring of query responses such that Alerts and reports can be generated and issued to defined designates (client contact) in real-time via automated email, phone, fax or other means as desired.
9. A System for monitoring Customer Experience wherein via an appliance or appliances in situ, the in situ appliance or appliances being connected to the remote system through a suitable network such as the Internet or private or leased network or networks or some combination of these.
10. The System wherein the in situ appliance or appliances connect with the network through either a physical interface such as a phone line or Ethernet, or through an air interface leveraging wireless network technologies such as WiFi. In the event that the network connection between the appliance and the remote system is severed or lost, the appliance enters a stand-by state that displays a suitable message or screen to inform the customer or customers that the survey is currently unavailable and to check back frequently, while at the same time attempting to reestablish a network connection.
11. The System wherein the system comprises unique URL’s contained in the www.opinion-bank.com domain or the like published on the WWW for the purpose of managing, monitoring and Alerting clients to Point of Experience deficiencies that can be addressed in real time.
12. The System wherein, the appliance receives a query in the form of a web page and associated data (images) requested from a remote web server, and the query response is generated from user interaction with the web page content, which then, the appliance sends the web page response to the remote web server for processing. All communication between the appliance and the remote web server is over a secure channel, such as SSL.
Implies the use of a web browser or similar software on the in situ appliance for the purposes of displaying and interacting with web pages.
The web server works in parallel with a database for the purposes of retrieving appliance specific queries and storing customer responses.
A software process executes with the web server to identify and authenticate an appliance communicating with the web server for the purposes of retrieving queries and storing responses specific to that appliance
13. The System wherein, a software process executes with the web server to identify and authenticate an appliance communicating with the web server for the purposes of retrieving queries and storing responses specific to that appliance.
Including a software process (here called a filter) that executes within the context of the web server for the purposes of analyzing responses received from an appliance or appliances by comparing the response to a set of predefined conditions stored in the database in real-time.
14. The System including a software process working cooperatively with the filter wherein, whose purpose is to generate an Alert in real-time when indicated to do so by the filter. This process must obtain the appropriate client contact information from the database and then formulate the appropriate Alert. If the Alert is by email, then the software process connects to an SMTP server within the System to send an outgoing message with a suitable encryption level. If the Alert is by phone, the software process connects to a TAPI server within the System to generate the Alert.
15. The System includes a software process executing within the context of the web server to provide a web interface for the client to efficiently and selectively modify and manage queries and conditional Alert requirements on a per appliance and per query basis in real-time by modifying the appropriate data residing in the database via a rules based, controlled interface.
Having provisions to allow the client to generate Customer Experience Reports on demand with time, date and location of Alerts delineated
16. The System wherein a data process or processes (Database) is implied for compiling, reporting, storing and tagging defined performance parameters in addition to appliance specific queries, responses and Alert criteria.