Patent ID: 8343206

Claim:
A method of making a drug-eluting stent delivery system for the treatment of edge restenosis in a blood vessel, comprising: providing a tubular catheter; positioning 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; providing 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; loading the drug-eluting stent with a therapeutic drug; and positioning the drug-eluting stent over the balloon such that at least a portion of the first end and the second end of the drug-eluting stent extend onto the tapered portion of the first end and the second end of the balloon, respectively; wherein the tapered portion of the first end and the second end of the balloon extends a length in a range from about 1 mm to about 7 mm and the tapered portions of the first end and the second end of the drug-eluting stent have a length in a range from about 1 mm to about 7 mm.