Apparaus and Methods for Loading a Drug Eluting Medical Device

A method of loading a therapeutic substance within a lumenal space of a hollow wire having a plurality of side openings that forms a hollow stent, the method comprising the steps of:

• submerging the hollow stent within a solution of a therapeutic substance and a solvent;
• vibrating the hollow stent and the solution to assist in moving the solution through the plurality of side openings into the lumenal space of the hollow stent;
• removing the hollow stent from the solution when the lumenal space is substantially full of the solution and thereby creating a filled hollow stent;
• precipitating the therapeutic substance out of solution within the lumenal space of the filled hollow stent;
• 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.