Method and system for improving the effectiveness of medical stents by the application of gas cluster ion beam technology

A method for smoothing and/or cleaning at least one surface of a medical stent comprising the steps of:

• forming a gas cluster ion beam in a vacuum chamber;
• accelerating the gas cluster ion beam;
• positioning the medical stent in the vacuum chamber to receive the gas cluster ion beam for processing;
• and
• irradiating at least one surface of the medical stent with a predetermined dose of gas cluster ions having a predetermined energy to reduce small scale surface roughness on the surface.

An apparatus for holding and manipulating a cylindrical object having an object axis within a beam path having a beam axis, for surface irradiation, said apparatus comprising:

• an object holder for positioning the cylindrical object in the path of the beam;
• a repositioning mechanism operably connected to said object holder for repositioning the cylindrical object in the beam path by rotating the cylindrical object about at least a first axis of rotation and a second axis of rotation;
• the first axis of rotation and the second axis of rotation intersecting each other within the beam path at an angle of intersection that is in the range of approximately 15 degrees to approximately 45 degrees;
• and
• the cylindrical object being positioned by said object holder such that the object axis is substantially aligned with the second axis of rotation.

An apparatus for modifying at least one surface of a medical stent comprising:

• a vacuum vessel;
• a gas cluster ion beam source within the vacuum vessel for producing a gas cluster ion beam;
• an accelerator for accelerating the gas cluster ion beam along a path having a beam axis;
• and
• a manipulator including a medical stent holder for positioning the medical stent within the gas cluster ion beam path for processing, said manipulator further comprising a repositioning mechanism for repositioning the medical stent in the gas cluster ion beam path by rotating said medical stent about at least two different axes of rotation at two different rates of rotation wherein said rates are in the ratio N:M, where N divided by M is not an integer and where M divided by N is not an integer.

An apparatus for modifying at least one surface of a medical stent comprising:

• a vacuum vessel;
• a gas cluster ion beam source within the vacuum vessel for producing a gas cluster ion beam;
• an accelerator for accelerating the gas cluster ion beam along a path having a beam axis;
• a manipulator including a medical stent holder for positioning the medical stent within the gas cluster ion beam path for processing;
• and
• a scanning means for scanning the gas cluster ion beam and the medical stent relative to each other.

An apparatus for holding and manipulating a cylindrical object having an object axis within a beam path having a beam axis, for surface irradiation, said apparatus comprising:

• an object holder for positioning the cylindrical object in the path of the beam;
• a repositioning mechanism operably connected to said object holder for repositioning the cylindrical object in the beam path by rotating the cylindrical object about at least a first axis of rotation and a second axis of rotation;
• the first axis of rotation and the second axis of rotation intersecting each other within the beam path at an angle of intersection that is in the range of approximately 15 degrees to approximately 45 degrees;
• the cylindrical object being positioned by said object holder such that the object axis is substantially aligned with the second axis of rotation;
• and
• a means for rotating said repositioning mechanism and said object holder such that the rotation of the cylindrical object about the first axis of rotation and about the second axis of rotation are at two different rates of rotation in the ratio N:M where N divided by M is not an integer and where M divided by N is not an integer.

An apparatus for holding and manipulating a cylindrical object having an object axis within a beam path having a beam axis, for surface irradiation, said apparatus comprising:

• an object holder for positioning the cylindrical object in the path of the beam;
• a repositioning mechanism operably connected to said object holder for repositioning the cylindrical object in the beam path by rotating the cylindrical object about at least a first axis of rotation and a second axis of rotation, wherein said first axis of rotation is substantially perpendicular to the beam axis;
• the first axis of rotation and the second axis of rotation intersecting each other within the beam path at an angle of intersection that is in the range of approximately 15 degrees to approximately 45 degrees;
• the cylindrical object being positioned by said object holder such that the object axis is substantially aligned wit the second axis of rotation;
• and
• a means for rotating said repositioning mechanism and said object holder such that the rotation of the cylindrical object about the first axis of rotation and about the second axis of rotation are at two different rates of rotation in the ratio N:M where N divided by M is not an integer and where M divided by N is not an integer.

An apparatus for holding and manipulating a cylindrical object having an object axis within a beam path having a beam axis, for surface irradiation, said apparatus comprising:

• an object holder for positioning the cylindrical object in the path of the beam;
• a repositioning mechanism operably connected to said object holder for repositioning the cylindrical object in the beam path by rotating the cylindrical object about at least a first axis of rotation and a second axis of rotation;
• the first axis of rotation and the second axis of rotation intersecting each other within the beam path at an angle of intersection that is in the range of approximately 15 degrees to approximately 45 degrees;
• and
• the cylindrical object being positioned by said object holder such that the object axis is substantially aligned with the second axis of rotation, said object holder comprising a means for removably attaching to the cylindrical object by being inserted with the object along the object axis.

An apparatus for smoothing and/or cleaning at least one surface of a medical stent, the apparatus comprising:

• a vacuum vessel;
• a gas cluster ion beam source within the vacuum vessel for producing a gas cluster ion beam;
• an accelerator for accelerating the gas cluster ion beam along a path having a beam axis;
• a scanning means for scanning the gas duster ion beam and the medical stent relative to each other;
• and
• a manipulator including a medical stent holder for positioning the medical stent for scanning by the gas cluster ion beam for processing said manipulator also repositioning the medical stent by rotating the medical stent about two different axes of rotation, said two different axes of rotation substantially intersecting each other at a point within the gas cluster ion beam path.