Patent ID: 9744058
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: A61F

Claim:
1. A method of treating vascular disease in a patient comprising: deploying a bioabsorbable polymer scaffold composed of a plurality of struts at a segment of an artery of a patient, wherein each of the plurality of struts is made completely of a bioabsorbable polymer between a luminal surface and an abluminal surface of each of the struts, the polymer scaffold expanding during deployment which expands the segment to a target diameter, wherein at least some of the struts of the deployed scaffold are apposed struts such that their abluminal surfaces are in contact with a wall of the segment and at least some of the struts of the deployed scaffold are malapposed struts such that their abluminal surfaces are not in contact with the wall of the segment, wherein at least some of the apposed struts are impacted greater than 50% into the wall, wherein at least some of the apposed struts are impacted less than 50% into the wall, wherein the bioabsorbable polymer scaffold comprises a coating on a surface of the scaffold, the coating including a mixture of a coating polymer and a drug and the drug elutes from the coating into the artery upon deployment, wherein the struts have a thickness (T), a width (W), an aspect ratio (T/W) of 0.7 to 0.9, and a T of 80 to 100 microns, wherein immediately upon deployment the struts disrupt flow of blood through the segment resulting in recirculation zones upstream and downstream of the struts that are in gaps between struts, wherein the recirculation zones are exposed to a low shear stress from the blood flow less than 1 Pa for at least 60% of a surface of the struts and luminal surfaces of the struts are exposed to a higher shear stress of at least 2 Pa, and wherein at least one year after deployment neointimal formation is higher in the recirculation zones than on the luminal surfaces of the struts.