Patent ID: 7909865

Claim:
An expandable medical device comprising: at least two cylindrical tubes connected by S-shaped bridging elements, each of said cylindrical tubes comprising a network of elongated and substantially rigid struts, each elongated and substantially rigid strut having a neutral axis along opposite ends, and inner and outer surfaces defining a thickness; a plurality of through-openings in the elongated and substantially rigid struts, said plurality of openings extending through said thickness at intervals along the neutral axis; a plurality of ductile hinges interconnecting said elongated and substantially rigid struts, each of said ductile hinges having a reduced section formed at either end of the elongated and substantially rigid strut permitting the expandable medical device to radially expand or compress from a first diameter to a second diameter by first elastically and then plastically deforming, wherein the elongated and substantially rigid struts experience substantially no plastic deformation during expansion or compression from the first diameter to the second diameter; at least one beneficial agent contained primarily within the through-openings, said beneficial agent provided in a plurality of layers, wherein a width of the ductile hinge is defined as the dimension in the direction perpendicular to a length of the ductile hinge, a thickness of the ductile hinge is defined as the dimension in the radial direction of the device, and the reduced section has a portion of constant width, wherein the inner and outer surfaces of the struts are substantially without beneficial agent thereon, and wherein the ductile hinges are devoid of any openings.