Method of crimping stent on catheter delivery assembly

1. A method of crimping a stent on a catheter delivery assembly, the method comprising:

(a) positioning a polymeric stent over a section of a catheter delivery assembly, wherein the stent comprises:

(i) a set of rings formed by struts connected at crowns, the struts configured to fold and unfold at the crowns, the rings including a proximal end ring, a distal end ring opposing the proximal end ring, and middle rings positioned between the end rings, wherein each ring is associated with its direct neighboring ring by links, and wherein at least one pair of neighboring middle rings can be delineated, via corresponding links there between, into closed cells comprising a W-shaped or W-V-shaped zone included within the closed cell;

(ii) at least one of the links being a marker link, the marker link having a first protrusion off a first side wall of the marker link for holding a first marker and a second protrusion off a second, opposite side wall of the marker link for holding a second marker; and

(iii) wherein the set of rings includes a crimped diameter such that in the crimped diameter, a pair of rings, between which the marker link resides, do not make contact with a perimeter of the first and second protrusions; and

(b) crimping the stent to a crimped diameter on the section of the catheter delivery assembly, wherein the crimping includes heating the polymeric stent to a target temperature, whereby the pair of rings, between which the marker link resides, does not make contact with the perimeter of the first and second protrusions in the crimped diameter.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stent is crimped on a balloon of the catheter delivery assembly.

3. A method of crimping a polymer stent on a catheter, the method comprising:

(a) positioning the stent over a balloon of a catheter, wherein the stent comprises a set of longitudinally spaced rings formed by struts connected at crowns, the struts configured to fold and unfold at the crowns, the set of longitudinally spaced rings including a proximal end ring, a distal end ring opposing the proximal end ring, and interior rings positioned between the end rings,

wherein each ring is associated with its direct neighboring ring by links,

at least one of the links of the stent comprises a marker structure for holding a pair of markers,

and the marker structure includes a pair of depots in which the markers are placed, the depots being placed in a planar view along a vertical axis (B-B) perpendicular to a longitudinal axis (A-A) of the stent; and

(b) crimping the stent to the balloon of the catheter,

wherein the stent is crimped to a crimped diameter such that in the crimped diameter, a pair of rings, between which the marker structure resides, does not make contact with the marker structure.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein each link adjoins a pair of the neighboring rings at a crown of each ring, and wherein the crimped diameter is a minimum crimped diameter (MCD) defined by equation 1 or equation 2:

MCD=(Σ Swi+ΣCrj+ΣLwk )*(1/π)+2* WT   (equation 1)

MCD=(Σ Swi+ΣCrj+ΣLwk )*(1/π)  (equation 2),

wherein

ΣSwi (i=1 . . . n) is the sum of n ring struts having width Swi;

ΣCrj (j=1 . . . m) is the sum of m crown inner radii having radii Crj (times 2);

ΣLwk (k=1 . . . p) is the sum of p links having width Lwk; and

WT is a ring wall thickness.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each strut has an aspect ratio (AR) of 0.8 to 1.4, AR being defined as ratio of width to thickness, and wherein optionally each link has an AR of 0.4 to 0.9.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each link has an AR of 0.4 to 0.9.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein each strut has an aspect ratio (AR) of 0.8 to 1.4, AR being defined as ratio of width to thickness, and wherein optionally each link has an AR of 0.4 to 0.9.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each link has an AR of 0.4 to 0.9.

9. The method of claim 3 , wherein each link adjoins a pair of the neighboring rings at a crown of each ring, and wherein the crimped diameter is less than a minimum crimped diameter (MCD), the minimum crimped diameter (MCD) is defined by equation 1 or equation 2:

MCD=(Σ Swi+ΣCrj+ΣLwk )*(1/π)+2* WT   (equation 1)

MCD=(Σ Swi+ΣCrj+ΣLwk )*(1/π)  (equation 2)

wherein

ΣSwi (i=1 . . . n) is the sum of n ring struts having width Swi;

ΣCrj (j=1 . . . m) is the sum of m crown inner radii having radii Crj (times 2);

ΣLwk (k=1 . . . p) is the sum of p links having width Lwk; and

WT is a ring wall thickness.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein each strut has an aspect ratio (AR) of 0.8 to 1.4, AR being defined as ratio of width to thickness, and wherein optionally each link has an AR of 0.4 to 0.9.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein each link has an AR of 0.4 to 0.9.

12. The method of claim 3 , wherein the crimping of the stent comprises heating the stent to a temperature between a glass transition temperature and about 10 degrees below a glass transition temperature of the polymer.

13. The method of claim 3 , wherein a length of a link having the marker structure is equal to L1+L2, wherein L1 is a length of the links that do not have a marker structure and L2 is the length needed to accommodate the marker structure.

14. The method of claim 3 , wherein the crowns have a pre-crimped crown angle of less than 115 degrees.

15. The method of claim 3 , wherein the crowns have a pre-crimped crown angle greater than a deployment crown angle.