Patent ID: 8752268

Claim:
A method of crimping a stent on a balloon, comprising: (a) providing a biodegradable polymeric stent, wherein the material from which structural elements of the stent are made consist of poly(l-lactide) and a second, different polymer (“PLLA-based polymer”); (b) attaching markers to the polymeric stent to provide capability of obtaining images of the PLLA-based polymer stent with an imaging device during and after implantation of the stent in a vessel, wherein the stent consists of two pairs of markers, two of the markers being attached in an adjacent configuration about a proximal most end ring of the stent, and the remaining two markers being attached in an adjacent configuration about a distal most end ring of the stent, with the proviso that the stent has no other markers but for the four markers to allow for imaging of the PLLA-based polymer stent and with a further proviso that an entire length of the stent between the first pair and second pair of markers is devoid of any markers, wherein a center point of a first marker is positioned at a circumferential distance from a center point of its adjacent second marker, wherein a center point of a third marker is positioned at a circumferential distance from a center point of its adjacent fourth marker, and wherein the pair of markers about the proximal most end ring of the polymeric stent are circumferentially off-set from the pair of markers about the distal most end ring of the polymeric stent; and (c) crimping the stent on a balloon of a catheter assembly by application of a crimping pressure to the stent positioned over the balloon, wherein when the crimping pressure is applied to the stent, the stent has regions of low strain and regions of high strain, such that PLLA-based elements to which each pair of marker is attached are regions of low strain, and wherein the PLLA-based elements of the markers do not compromise the mechanical integrity of the stent.