Patent ID: 9289318
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: A61F,A61L

Claim Text:
1. A method of treating atherosclerotic stenosis in a blood vessel, comprising: deploying a bioabsorbable polymeric stent to a deployment diameter at a stenotic section of a blood vessel, the stent comprising a scaffolding composed of a pattern of struts, the pattern comprising a plurality of cylindrical rings connected by linking struts, wherein each ring is made up of a plurality of undulating struts with peaks and valleys and which bend to cause plastic deformation at the peaks and valleys when the stent is deployed to the deployment diameter, wherein the stent has sufficient radial strength to provide patency for a period of time to the vessel after deployment, wherein after the radial strength declines and the stent can no longer support the vessel at or near the deployment diameter, linking struts between rings fail resulting in complete loss of connectivity between at least one ring or at least one group of consecutive rings, and wherein the at least one ring or the group of rings is structurally intact after failure of the linking struts.