Expandable medical device with beneficial agent in openings
First Claim
1. An expandable medical device comprising:
- a plurality of substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies which are each expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter;
a plurality of flexible bridging members connecting the substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies to form an expandable device; and
a plurality of openings formed in the flexible bridging members, the openings containing a beneficial agent for delivery to tissue, wherein the plurality of openings in the flexible bridging members are substantially undeformed during flexing of the bridging members.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An expandable medical device having a plurality of elongated struts, the plurality of elongated struts being joined together by ductile hinges to form a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter. The plurality of struts and ductile hinges are arranged to improve the spatial distribution of the struts which is particularly important when delivering beneficial agents with the struts. The improved strut arrangement expands to a substantially parallelogram shape for improved beneficial agent distribution to the surrounding tissue. A beneficial agent may be loaded into openings within the struts or coated onto the struts for delivery to the tissue.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An expandable medical device comprising:
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a plurality of substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies which are each expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter; a plurality of flexible bridging members connecting the substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies to form an expandable device; and a plurality of openings formed in the flexible bridging members, the openings containing a beneficial agent for delivery to tissue, wherein the plurality of openings in the flexible bridging members are substantially undeformed during flexing of the bridging members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An expandable medical device comprising:
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a plurality of substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies which are each expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter; a plurality of flexible bridging members connecting the substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies to form an expandable device; a plurality of openings formed in the flexible bridging members, the openings containing a beneficial agent for delivery to tissue, wherein the plurality of flexible bridging members include at least one flexible portion and at least one opening containing portion, wherein a width of the opening containing portion is greater than a width of the flexible portion, and wherein the plurality of openings have a largest dimension which is greater than the width of the at least one flexible portion. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification