Patent ID: 8632846

Claim:
A method of loading a therapeutic substance within a hollow stent, the method comprising the steps of: filling a lumenal space defined by a hollow wire that forms the hollow stent substantially full of a solution of a therapeutic substance and a solvent via a plurality of side openings within the hollow wire that forms the hollow stent until the lumenal space is substantially full of the solution to create a filled hollow stent; loading the filled hollow stent into a processing chamber having an inert gas environment above atmospheric pressure in order to minimize evaporation of the solvent during loading; closing the processing chamber to atmosphere and controlling a temperature and pressure of the processing chamber to precipitate the therapeutic substance out of solution within the lumenal space of the filled hollow stent without removal of the solvent and such that the solvent remains in a liquid phase; cooling the filled hollow stent to a temperature below the melting point of the solvent such that the solvent freezes; and sublimating the frozen solvent to extract substantially all residual solvent from the lumenal space of the filled hollow stent while the precipitated therapeutic substance remains therein to thereby load the hollow stent with the therapeutic substance for subsequent delivery within a body lumen.