Patent ID: 8439968

Claim:
An expandable medical device comprising: at least two expandable 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, each of said through-openings having a substantially constant cross-section from the inner surface to the outer surface; a plurality of ductile hinges interconnecting said elongated and substantially rigid struts, each of the 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 no plastic deformation during expansion or compression from the first diameter to the second diameter; and at least one beneficial agent contained primarily within the through-openings, wherein the inner and outer surfaces of the struts are substantially without beneficial agent thereon.