Method of incorporating drugs into a polymer component of stents

摘要

The drug-loaded polymeric material containing a therapeutic drug can be applied to a structure of an intravascular stent. A therapeutically effective amount of a therapeutic drug is incorporated into such a layer of polymeric material, without significantly increasing the thickness of the stent, to avoid interfering with the function of the stent. The drug-loaded polymer coating of the stent can formed to include pores, can be multi-layered to permit the combination of a plurality of different drug containing materials in a single stent, and can include a rate controlling membrane to allow for controlled retention and delivery of selected drugs within the affected blood vessel upon implantation. The layer of polymeric material is manufactured by combining the selected polymeric material with a relatively high loading of the therapeutic drug in a thermal process, such as coextrusion of the therapeutic drug with the polymeric material. The therapeutic drug is dispersed and incorporated into the polymer as small particles, preferably having a maximum cross-sectional dimension of 10 microns. <IMAGE>