Patent ID: 8337739

Claim:
A method of making a stent comprising: melt processing a polymer blend of PLLA and PDLA to allow formation of PLLA/PDLA stereocomplex crystallites in the blend during the processing, wherein he blend comprises 0.25 to 15 wt % PDLA; forming a tube from the melt processed blend comprising the stereocomplex crystallites, wherein the processed blend is quenched to a temperature below Tg of PLLA during formation of the tube; annealing the quenched tube at a temperature that allows formation of PLLA nuclei with no or substantially no growth of crystallites around the PLLA nuclei or the stereocomplex crystallites prior to the radial deformation of the tube; radially deforming the annealed polymer tube; and forming a stent from the deformed tube.