US Patent 7842083 Expandable medical device with improved spatial distribution

An expandable medical device having a plurality of elongated struts, the plurality of elongated struts being joined together by ductile hinges to form a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter. The plurality of struts and ductile hinges are arranged to improve the spatial distribution of the struts which is particularly important when delivering beneficial agents with the struts. The improved strut arrangement expands to a substantially parallelogram shape for improved beneficial agent distribution to the surrounding tissue. A beneficial agent may be loaded into openings within the struts or coated onto the struts for delivery to the tissue.