Abstract: Methods for increasing the fracture resistance of a polymer stent's drug-polymer coating and scaffolding including applying a coating and crimping using techniques that increase the resistance to fracture in the coating layer and scaffolding and scaffolding.

Abstract: A method for coating catheter balloons with a defined amount of a pharmacologically active agent, uses a coating device having a volume measuring device for releasing a measurable amount of a coating solution by means of a dispensing device specifically onto the surface of the catheter balloon.

Abstract: A coating for an implantable device such as a stent is provided including micronized peptides. A method of making the same is also provided.

Abstract: A coronary stent is provided with asymmetric drug releasing controlled coating used in interventional therapy of coronary disease, containing a bare stent and a coating consisting of drug and carrier, the coating is coated onto the outer wall surface of the bare stent, and is multi-layered. The drug concentration in the coating increases in sequence from the outer layer to the inner layer. The drugs used in different layers of the coating may be identical or different, and particularly may be one or more selected from taxol, rapamycin, heparin, docetaxel and a combination thereof. The carrier may be a random (lactide-glycolide) copolymer having a molecular weight of 50,000-200,000. The drug-coated stent of the present invention employs highly effective drugs, enabling a thinnest coating and reducing the vascular irritation. The drug release is regulated by altering the coating manner so as to satisfy the clinical requirement for controlled drug release.

Abstract: Provided herein are coating designs for the tailored release of two therapeutic agents from polymer coatings and methods of making and using the same.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing an implantable medical device, such as a drug eluting stent, is disclosed. The method includes subjecting an implantable medical device that includes a polymer to a thermal condition. The thermal condition can result in reduction of the rate of release of an active agent from the device subsequent to the implantation of the device and/or improve the mechanical properties of a polymeric coating on the device.

Abstract: Poly(hydridocarbyne) (PHC) is synthesized by a hybrid, active-metal/electrochemical method by applying a voltage to the electrodes at least one of which is an active-metal, the electrodes being immersed in a trisubstituted halomethane solution. The active-metal electrode and halomethane solution both partake in the electrochemical reaction.

Abstract: A medical device includes an implantable structure and a coating layer including a water-insoluble therapeutic agent and one or more additives selected from xylitol, iodine or Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and physiologically-acceptable salts thereof. The one or more additives can be present in an amount effective to increase the rate of release of the water-insoluble therapeutic agent from the coating layer. The implantable medical device structure can be an expandable structure such as a balloon or stent. Also described are methods of making and using such implantable medical devices and coating layers.

Abstract: A medical device includes an implantable structure and a coating layer including a water-insoluble therapeutic agent and one or more additives selected from heparin, heparan sulfate, dextran and dextran sulfate, and physiologically-acceptable salts thereof. The one or more additives can be present in an amount effective to increase the rate of release of the water-insoluble therapeutic agent from the coating layer. The implantable medical device structure can be an expandable structure such as a balloon or stent. Also described are methods of making and using such implantable medical devices and coating layers.

Abstract: The present invention discloses an interventional medical device and methods of making the same. At least one coating layer is disposed on the outer surface of the interventional medical device and the material of the outmost layer of the coating layer is a sulfonate group-containing polymer. In the present invention, the material of the outmost layer of the interventional medical device is a sulfonate group-containing polymer. The polymer is endowed with a same surface property as that of heparin in addition to appropriate hydrophilicity due to the presence of the sulfonate group. After the interventional medical device is implanted into the human body, a hydrophilic surface is formed on the outer surface of the interventional medical device which is also negatively charged in the body fluid. Therefore, cells can easily adhere and grow on the outer surface thereof as a result of the enhanced cell compatibility.

Abstract: An automated apparatus and method for coating medical devices such as an intravascular stent, are disclosed in the method, a 2-D image of a stent is processed to determine (1) paths along the stent skeletal elements by which a stent secured to a rotating support element can be traversed by a dispenser head whose relative motion with respect to the support element is along the support-element axis, such that some or all of the stent skeletal elements will be traversed (2) the relative speeds of the dispenser head and support element as the dispenser head travels along the paths, and (3), and positions of the dispenser head with respect to a centerline of the stent elements as the dispenser head travels along such paths The rotational speed of the support and relative linear speed of the dispenser are controlled to achieve the desired coating thickness and coating coverage on the upper surfaces, and optionally, the side surfaces, of the stent elements.

Abstract: Processes are described herein for preparing medical devices and other articles having a low-fouling surface on a substrate comprising a polymeric surface. The polymeric surface material may possess a range of polymeric backbones and substituents while providing the articles with a highly efficient, biocompatible, and non-fouling surface. The processes involve treating the substrate to reduce the concentration of chemical species on the surface of or in the substrate without altering the bulk physical properties of the device or article, and thereafter forming a grafted polymer layer on the treated substrate surface.

Abstract: A personalized prosthesis for implantation at a treatment site of a patient includes a self-expanding mesh or membrane having collapsed and expanded configurations. The collapsed configuration is adapted to be delivered to the treatment site, and the expanded configuration engages the personalized prosthesis with the treatment site. The mesh or membrane is personalized to match the treatment site in the expanded configuration, and has an outer surface that substantially matches the treatment site shape and size. The self-expanding mesh or membrane forms a central lumen configured to allow blood or other body fluids to flow therethrough. Methods of manufacturing and delivery of the personalized prosthesis are also disclosed.

Abstract: The method of making devices is disclosed herein. More particularly, a method of manufacturing a device, comprises: vacuum depositing a device-forming metal onto an unpatterned, exterior surface of a generally cylindrical substrate to form a generally tubular, unpatterned crystalline metal film under at least one vacuum deposition process condition selected from at least one of chamber pressure, deposition pressure, and partial pressure of a process gas, said at least one process condition optimized to substantially eliminate formation of chemical and intra- and intergranular precipitates in the bulk material; and removing the deposited generally tubular, unpatterned crystalline metal film from the generally cylindrical substrate.

Abstract: A prosthesis and a method for making a prosthesis for controlling flow through a bodily lumen are provided. The prosthesis includes a body having a proximal portion, a distal portion and a lumen extending therethrough and further includes a valve operably connected to the body. The valve has a distal end including a first portion of a surface of the valve lumen and a second portion of the surface that contact each other and form a seal in a closed configuration. The distal end of the valve is formed such that the first portion and the second portion of the surface of the valve lumen contact each other and the distal end is configured to open in response to a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure.

Abstract: Water-soluble polymeric adhesive compositions and their use as delivery vehicles for carrying therapeutic agents on implantable devices, such as vascular grafts, are disclosed. Use of drug-coated vascular grafts is demonstrated for delivery of the therapeutic agents in vivo, thereby inhibiting restenosis or neointimal hyperplasia of the vascular graft and inhibiting infection at the vascular graft site. Methods of forming the adhesive and making the coated vascular grafts are also disclosed.

Abstract: A composition comprising a structural component comprising linear acrylic homopolymers or linear acrylic copolymers and a biobeneficial component comprising copolymers having an acrylate moiety and a biobeneficial moiety is disclosed. A medical article comprising the composition in the coating thereof and a method of fabricating the medical article are also disclosed.

Abstract: Biocompatible coatings for implantable medical devices are disclosed. Embodiments of the invention provide methods for coating an object with a biocompatible coating wherein the device is suspended using a flowing gas during the coating process. Embodiments of the invention provide tropoelastin coatings and methods of creating tropoelastin coatings for implantable medical devices. Optionally, the biocompatible coating can be a drug eluting coating.

Abstract: Methods and devices relating to polymer-bioceramic composite implantable medical devices are disclosed.

Abstract: This invention relates to stents having medicated multi-layer hybrid polymer coatings, useful for the treatment of stenosed vasculature or other body passages.

Abstract: Described herein are methods of coating both metallic and polymeric surfaces adding hydrophilicity comprising the steps mixing a coating composition comprising at least one polyol, at least one compound having at least two isocyanate groups, and an organic solvent; introducing nucleophilic functional groups on the surface thereby creating an active surface; subjecting the active surface to the coating composition thereby forming a coated surface; and curing the coated surface. Medical devices, for example, implantable medical devices can be coated by the methods described herein.

Abstract: An endoprosthesis comprising a stent, a cover fully covering the stent wherein the cover has variable porosity in the radial direction; and an adhesion layer connecting the stent to the cover. Another aspect of the invention is a method of implanting an endoprosthesis which includes a stent, providing a cover with variable porosity in the radial direction, connecting the stent to the cover with an adhesion layer to form a covered stent, and implanting the covered stent within a body lumen of a patient.

Abstract: A medical device that includes a coating of a composite material that includes a polymeric material having a void structure and particulate ceragenin material (i.e., ceragenin particles) associated with the void structure. The average particle size of the ceragenin particles in the composite is in a range from 5 nm to 20 ?m, 50 nm to 10 ?m, 100 nm to 5 ?m, or 1 ?m to 10 ?m. The composite has a high loading of ceragenin particles (e.g., about 10% to about 25%, by weight). The composite has good polymer stability, the ability to release ceragenins from the ceragenin particles disposed in the composite over a sustained period of time at a characteristic elution rate, and the ability to kill large numbers of bacteria and other susceptible microbes over the sustained period of time.

Abstract: Disclosed are antifouling compositions that can include a biopolymeric matrix which is substantially zwitterionic. The compositions may include a biopolymer matrix having positively charged functional groups, negatively charged functional groups, zwitterionic functional groups, or a combination thereof, such that the composition is substantially zwitterionic. The compositions can be used as additives and as compositions further containing a base material such as paint or lacquer. Methods of making and using such compounds and compositions are also disclosed.

Abstract: A coating system for coating an Insertable Medical Device (IMD) with one or more drugs is disclosed. The coating system includes a spray nozzle unit for coating the IMD with one or more drugs. The IMD includes a guiding member, a coating member and a supporting member. The IMD is passed through a protection tube such that the guiding member is located within the protection tube and an end of the supporting member is connected to a holder to expose the coating member of the IMD to the spray nozzle unit. The protection tube is received by a mandrel fixture which includes a circular disc for holding and rotating the protection tube and the IMD within the protection tube. When the protection tube along with the IMD is rotated, the spray nozzle unit coats the coating member of the IMD with the one or more drugs.

Abstract: A medical material for in vivo implantation contains a bioabsorbable material containing a softening agent and/or a moisturizing agent and a non-bioabsorbable porous base material, in which the content of a softening agent and/or a moisturizing agent is controlled less than 20 wt %; a method for controlling this content; and a method for producing a medical material for in vivo implantation are provided.

Abstract: A medical material for in vivo implantation contains a bioabsorbable material containing a softening agent and/or a moisturizing agent and a non-bioabsorbable porous base material, in which the content of a softening agent and/or a moisturizing agent is controlled less than 20 wt %; a method for controlling this content; and a method for producing a medical material for in vivo implantation are provided.

Abstract: Various embodiments of methods and devices for coating stents are described herein. The method includes applying a coating composition to the stent; rotating the stent with a rotatable element supporting at least a portion of the stent; and applying at least one pulse to the rotatable element during the stent coating process.

Abstract: A coating device for coating a medical device with a drug-eluting material uses an in-process drying station between coats to improve a drug release profile. The drying station includes a heat nozzle configured for applying a uniform drying gas. A coating process using the dryer includes a closed-loop control for the gas between drying steps and an improved nozzle for producing more consistent spray patterns.

Abstract: The invention relates to a hydrophilic coating formulation which when cured results in a hydrophilic coating, wherein the hydrophilic coating formulation comprises a copolymeric polyelectrolyte. The invention further relates to a hydrophilic coating, a lubricious coating, use of a copolymeric polyelectrolyte in a lubricious coating, an article, a medical device or component and a method of forming on a substrate a hydrophilic coating.

Abstract: The implantable medical devices are configured to release at least one therapeutic agent from a matrix affixed to the implantable body with a release profile which is programmable to the agent and treatment. The matrix is formed such that the concentration of the therapeutic agent in the matrix varies as a gradient relative to a surface of the implantable body. The change in the concentration gradient of the agent in the matrix directly controls the rate of elution of the agent from the matrix. The therapeutic agent matrix can be disposed in the stent or on surfaces of the stent in various configurations, including within volumes defined by the stent, such as openings, holes, or concave surfaces, as a reservoir of agent, and alternatively as a coating on all or a portion of the surfaces of the stent structure.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for coating a medical device are provided. In one embodiment, the method for preparing a substantially uniform coated medical device includes (1) preparing a coating solution comprising a solvent, a therapeutic agent, and an additive; (2) loading a metering dispenser with the coating solution; (3) rotating the medical device about the longitudinal axis of the device and/or moving the medical device along the longitudinal or transverse axis of the device; (4) dispensing the coating solution from the metering dispenser onto a surface of the medical device and flowing the coating solution on the surface of the medical device while the medical device is rotating and/or linearly moving; and (5) evaporating the solvent, forming a substantially uniform coating layer on the medical device.

Abstract: The present invention is a process for surface treatment of a fluid-contacting device where a continuous organo-silicon or organo-silicon and oxygen plasma coating is applied at a low temperature by a plasma deposition technique to at least one contacting surface of the device and devices with the process applied. The plasma coating inhibits bacterial attachment to the device and prevents biofilm formation on said device. The coating preferably has a thickness from about 1 nm to about 100 nm, more preferably from about 20 nm to about 30 nm. The trimethylsilane and oxygen gas mixture is an approximate ratio of 1 to 4. The invention demonstrates that bacterial cells on the organo-silicon or organo-silicon/O2 coated surface are more susceptible to antibiotic treatment than their counterparts in biofilm formed on uncoated surface.

Abstract: A method for applying a coating to an implantable device is disclosed. The method includes positioning an implantable device relative to an ultrasonic material delivery apparatus. The implantable device is rotated at a relative speed. The relative speed may be more than 120 revolutions per minute. An application material is applied to the implantable device using the ultrasonic material delivery apparatus. The relative speed may be sufficient to reduce the size of at least a portion of droplets of the application material. A system for rotating an implantable device is disclosed. The system includes an implantable device and a rotation system configured to rotate the implantable device. A longitudinal axis of the implantable device and a longitudinal axis of a rotation member of the rotation system may be offset a desired dimension. An inside diameter of the implantable device may be larger than an outside diameter of a rotation member.

Abstract: Compositions and methods are provided for producing a medical device such as a stent, a stent graft, a synthetic vascular graft, heart valves, coated with a biocompatible matrix which incorporates antibodies, antibody fragments, or small molecules, which recognize, bind to and/or interact with a progenitor cell surface antigen to immobilize the cells at the surface of the device. The coating on the device can also contain a compound or growth factor for promoting the progenitor endothelial cell to accelerate adherence, growth and differentiation of the bound cells into mature and functional endothelial cells on the surface of the device to prevent intimal hyperplasia. Methods for preparing such medical devices, compositions, and methods for treating a mammal with vascular disease such as restenosis, artherosclerosis or other types of vessel obstructions are disclosed.

Abstract: A medical device comprising a porous article of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) having a microstructure comprising nodes interconnected by fibrils, wherein the microstructure at a surface of the article at least partially includes nodes having segments free of fibrillate interconnections.

Abstract: Processes for coating medical devices are provided herein. The processes include heating a surface of the particles used to form the coating as the particles are being applied to the medical device. The resulting coating has improved adherence to the medical device, and does not require the use of solvents and/or water, obviating the need for any steps that otherwise might be required to remove these solvents and/or water. Sufficient adherence of the particles to the medical device may also occur without the need for heating the substrate used to form the medical device.

Abstract: Various embodiments of methods and devices for coating stents are described herein.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a brush polymer, including: a linear polymer main chain; and brush structural side chains, including: a hydrophobic molecular branch, and a hydrophilic molecular branch and/or an anti-biofilm/or an anti-microbial molecular branch, wherein the linear polymer main chain is conjugated to the side chains by covalent bonds formed between a hydroxyl group and a reactive functional group, wherein the reactive functional group includes: isocyanate, carboxyl, or epoxy. The present disclosure also provides a medical application of the brush polymer.

Abstract: Methods for making coatings on an implantable device such as a drug-eluting stent comprising a polymer and nano or microparticles of a drug in slow-dissolving polymorph, implantable devices produced by the methods and methods of using the coatings are provided.

Abstract: A stent has first and second members. The stent is supported by a mandrel in a first position such that the mandrel is in contact with the first member and the second member is spaced from the mandrel. A method for coating the stent includes spraying or drying the stent, placing the stent in a second position such that the first member is spaced from the mandrel and the second member is placed in contact with the mandrel, and spraying or drying the stent while the stent is supported by the mandrel in the second position.

Abstract: Methods for making coatings on an implantable device such as a drug-eluting stent comprising a polymer and nano or microparticles of a drug in slow-dissolving polymorph, implantable devices produced by the methods and methods of using the coatings are provided.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for loading a therapeutic substance or drug within a lumenal space of a hollow wire having a plurality of side openings along a length thereof that forms a hollow drug-eluting stent with a plurality of side drug delivery openings. Loading a drug within the lumenal space of the hollow stent includes a drug filling step, in which the drug is mixed with a solvent or dispersion medium. The lumenal space may be filled with the drug solution or suspension in a reverse fill process and/or a forward fill process. After the drug filling step, a solvent or dispersion medium extracting step is performed to extract the solvent or dispersion medium from within the lumenal space such that only the drug remains within the hollow stent. A stent cleaning step may be performed to an exterior surface of the hollow stent.

Abstract: Methods for making coatings on an implantable device such as a drug-eluting stent comprising a polymer and nano or microparticles of a drug in slow-dissolving polymorph, implantable devices produced by the methods and methods of using the coatings are provided.

Abstract: A method for removing excess coating from a stent involves simultaneously applying a coating substance to the stent, rotating the stent about a first axis of rotation, and rotating the stent about a second axis of rotation parallel to the first axis of rotation. An apparatus for removing excess coating from a stent includes a first system configured to rotate the stent about an axis of rotation, a fixture configured to support the stent such that a longitudinal axis of the stent is generally parallel to the axis of rotation, and a second system configured to rotate the stent about the longitudinal axis of the stent while the stent is supported by the fixture.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a drug-releasing stent is provided. The method includes providing a titanium precursor, a carrier gas and a reactant gas in a plasma vacuum chamber, and generating a plasma for 1 to 6 hours to form a titanium oxide thin film on the surface of a stent. The method further includes providing steam or oxygen and hydrogen in the plasma vacuum chamber and generating a low-temperature plasma for 10 minutes to 2 hours to modify the surface of the titanium oxide thin film. The method further includes reacting the titanium oxide thin film of the stent with a drug in an acidic solution and under an inert gas atmosphere at room temperature to 100° C. for 30 minutes to 4 hours to attach the drug.

Abstract: A method of making a stent, including preparing a solution containing a composition, the composition comprising a biodegradable polymer and a vascular intimal hyperplasia inhibitor of a kind, including argatroban, which does not inhibit proliferation of endothelial cells, the weight compositional ratio of the polymer to the vascular intimal hyperplasia inhibitor being within the range of 8:2 to 3:7, the composition dissolved in a solvent selected from the group consisting of a mixture of a lower alkyl ketone and methanol, a mixture of a lower alkyl ester and methanol or a mixture of a lower halogenated hydrocarbon and methanol; coating at least an outer surface of a stent body of a cylindrical configuration having outer and inner surfaces with a diamond-like thin film coated on the surfaces; and after the coating, removing the solvent to complete a first coated layer.

Abstract: Coatings for an implantable medical device and a method of fabricating thereof are disclosed, the coatings including block-polymers comprising at least one poly(hydroxyacid) or poly(hydroxy-alkanoate) block, at least one block of a biologically compatible polymer and at least one type of linking moiety.

Abstract: The present invention relates to grid-like or net-like endoprosthesis having a continuous, respectively ongoing and interstices-spanning coating with a thread-tangle, wherein this continuous, respectively ongoing and interstices-spanning coating covers the struts as well as the interstices between the single endoprosthesis struts.

Abstract: An implantable medical device is provided having a plurality of interstices including concave or convex shaped coatings. The concave or convex shaped coatings are configured to straighten and then stretch as the implantable medical device is compressed or elongated, thereby delaying the onset of wrinkling in the coating material. The implantable medical device may include a tubular body having a central body portion and a flange of greater diameter than the central body portion.