US Patent 8034361 - Stent coating incorporating nanoparticles

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8034361.html


Stents are used to hold open body passages and are often treated with medical compounds to provide localized therapy. This patent from Advanced Cardiovascular Systems teaches how nanoparticles can be used to facilitate medical coating of stents and prolong their effectiveness. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for incorporating an active agent on an implantable medical device, the method comprising:

(a) fabricating nanoparticles containing the active agent;

(b) dispersing the nanoparticles in an organic phase to make a suspension; and

(c) applying the suspension onto the implantable medical device such that the nanoparticles are incorporated on the implantable medical device, and stirring the suspension during the application, wherein the implantable medical device is a stent; and

wherein the application comprises dipping the implantable medical device into the suspension.