Localized delivery of drug agents
AssigneeBoston Scientific Scimed, Inc.
InventorCharles D. Lennox
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Medical devices including a substrate that are expandable from a compressed state to an expanded state; a coating on the substrate, the coating having a drug agent incorporated therein; and a sheath over the coating. The sheath is expandable from a compressed state to an expanded state and has at least one perforation therein. The medical devices are configured such that when the substrate is in a compressed state, the sheath is also in a compressed state and the perforation is substantially closed. When the substrate is in an expanded state, the sheath is also in an expanded state and the perforation is substantially open. The invention also includes a method of using the medical devices for the controlled, localized delivery of a drug agent to a target location within a mammalian body.
Claims20
A medical device, comprising:
- a balloon that is expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state;
- an elastic sheath over said balloon, said elastic sheath being expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state and having at least one slit therein, said slit having a first side and a second side, wherein said first side and said second side are substantially closed in the unexpanded state, and said first side and said second side pull away from each other in the expanded state;
- and
- a drug agent carried by the medical device such that when said at least one slit is substantially closed, said drug agent is substantially retained by the elastic sheath,
- wherein when said balloon is in the unexpanded state, said elastic sheath is in the unexpanded state, and when said balloon is expanded to the expanded state, said elastic sheath is expanded to the expanded state and said at least one slit is substantially open such that said drug agent is delivered from said medical device.
A method for the localized delivery of a drug agent to a target location within a mammalian body, comprising the steps of:
- using a medical device comprising:
- a balloon that is expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state;
- an elastic sheath over said balloon, said elastic sheath being expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state and having at least one slit therein, said slit having a first side and a second side, wherein said first side and said second side are substantially closed in the unexpanded state, and said first side and said second side pull away from each other in the expanded state;
- and
- a drug agent carried by the medical device such that when said at least one slit is substantially closed, said drug agent is substantially retained by the elastic sheath,
- wherein when said balloon is in the unexpanded state, said elastic sheath is in the unexpanded state, and when said balloon is expanded to the expanded state, said elastic sheath is expanded to the expanded state and said at least one slit is substantially open such that said drug agent is delivered from said medical device;
- delivering said medical device to said target location while said elastic sheath is in the unexpanded state and said at least one slit is substantially closed;
- and
- expanding said balloon to thereby expand said elastic sheath to the expanded state such that said at least one slit is substantially open, whereby the drug agent is delivered from said medical device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.