Patent ID: 8623069

Claim:
A stent, comprising: a scaffolding of a stent made of a biodegradable polymer including a network of interconnecting struts formed by laser cutting the network into a tube made of the polymer, wherein the scaffolding of the stent has a variable strain profile under applied stress, wherein a material property of a plurality of selected regions of the scaffolding are modified by selective application of heat to accommodate the variable strain profile by reducing or preventing mechanical instability when the scaffolding is under applied stress, wherein the material property of the selected regions differ from the material property of the scaffolding outside the regions, wherein the material property is selected from the group consisting of the modulus, crystallinity, or both, wherein the regions include portions of a surface of the scaffolding, and wherein no material is disposed over a surface of the regions; and wherein the selected regions are as small as 60 microns in diameter.