Patent ID: 8852260

Claim:
A stent delivery system, comprising: a tubular catheter; a balloon about at least a portion of the catheter, the balloon having a first end and a second end and a working length therebetween, the first end and the second end each including a tapered portion, each tapered portion being attached to the catheter, the balloon being inflatable from a collapsed configuration, wherein the working length and at least a portion of each tapered portion are substantially flattened, to an inflated configuration; a drug-eluting stent configured to contact a wall of a blood vessel so as to maintain the patency of the vessel, the drug-eluting stent having a first end and a second end, the first end and the second end including a tapered portion; the drug-eluting stent having a therapeutic drug coated thereon; and the drug-eluting stent being mounted on the balloon such that at least a portion of the first end and the second end of the balloon are covered by the tapered portion of the drug-eluting stent; wherein the balloon in a collapsed configuration includes a taper angle of 2° to 30° as measured from lateral edges of the balloon relative to a longitudinal axis of the catheter.