METHOD OF INCORPORATING A DRUG-ELUTING EXTERNAL BODY IN A MEDICAL APPLIANCE AND A SELF-EXPANDING STENT INCLUDING A DRUG-ELUTING EXTERNAL BODY

摘要

A medical appliance is provided that includes a self-expanding stent (10) ; a sheath (13) adapted to enclose the self -expanding stent in an interior space (18) during deployment; and an external body (11) comprising a bioactive agent attached to the self-expanding stent and adapted to lie outside the interior space of the sheath when the self-expanding stent is enclosed in the sheath. The medical appliance may be deployed in a lumen of a human body and the external body may release the bioactive agent .