| abstract |
The present invention relates to materials and methods for manufacturing endoluminal stents that provide device designers with an opportunity to design devices for specific applications through engineering techniques. Biocompatible materials can be designed into any number of implantable medical devices, including intraluminal stents. Polymer materials can be utilized to make any of these devices, including stents. The stent can be balloon-expandable or self-expandable. By performing selective mechanical deformation of the polymer, the polymer chains can be oriented to obtain some desired performance characteristics. [Selection] Figure 1 |