Patent ID: 8652194

Claim:
A method for treating an arterial lumen, comprising: detecting a presence of an occlusive plaque and a nearby vulnerable plaque within a same arterial lumen region, wherein the vulnerable plaque is disposed downstream from the occlusive plaque; expanding a stent graft against the occlusive plaque, the stent graft comprising a self-expanding stent, a non-hydrophilic expandable layer, and a vulnerable plaque stabilizing agent coating on an inner surface of the expandable layer, wherein the expandable layer is coupled directly to an inner surface of the self-expanding stent, and wherein the vulnerable plaque stabilizing agent coating is releasably dispersed on the inner surface of the expandable layer; and delivering a therapeutically effective amount of the vulnerable plaque stabilizing agent coating downstream to the nearby vulnerable plaque from the expandable layer when the vulnerable plaque stabilizing agent coating becomes exposed to blood flowing in the same arterial lumen region, wherein the therapeutically effective amount of the vulnerable plaque stabilizing agent coating remains within the same arterial lumen region during delivery.