Patent ID: 7875072

Claim:
A stent for implantation in an animal or human body, said stent having an outer face for lodging against the surface of a tissue or organ and an inner face, said stent comprising: (a) one or more wells adapted for carrying living therapeutic cells, said wells extending through the outer face of said stent to said inner face; (b) a first frangible; tissue-or-organ-penetrable membrane comprising a rigid frangible material at the outer face of each well for confining cells therein, said membrane embedded in a pliable perimetral mount and having lines of weakening therein, said membrane formed to fracture along said lines of weakening under sufficient pressure into sharp segments that pivot outwardly from the well and pierce the surface of the tissue or organ in order to deposit cells into its interior; and (c) a second membrane at said inner face of each well, said membrane being either permeable for vascular applications or impermeable for non-vascular applications.