Biodegradable supporting device

Abstract

A biodegradable in vivo supporting device is disclosed. The in vivo supporting device comprises a biodegradable metal scaffold and a biodegradable polymer coating covering at least a portion of the biodegradable metal scaffold, wherein the biodegradable polymer coating has a degradation rate that is faster than the degradation rate of the biodegradable metal scaffold.

1 - 30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . An in vivo supporting device, comprising:
 a biodegradable metal scaffold comprising metal struts; and   a biodegradable polymer coating covering at least a portion of the biodegradable metal scaffold,   wherein said biodegradable polymer coating has a thickness of 10-200 μm and a degradation rate that is different than the degradation rate of the biodegradable metal scaffold,   wherein the biodegradable metal scaffold comprises an alloy,   wherein the alloy comprises magnesium, manganese, and at least one rare earth metal.   
     
     
         32 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the alloy has a magnesium content of 96-97.9 wt. %, a manganese content of 1.6-2 wt. %, and at least one rare earth metal in the amount of 0.5-2 wt. %. 
     
     
         33 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the metal struts are fully covered by the biodegradable coating. 
     
     
         34 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the metal struts are covered by the biodegradable polymer coating, wherein the biodegradable polymer coating has one or more holes that allow direct contact of the metal struts with a body fluid when the supporting device is placed inside a body lumen. 
     
     
         35 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , further comprising a biodegradable polymer covering that covers the exterior surface of the metal scaffold, including openings between the metal struts. 
     
     
         36 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 35 , wherein the biodegradable polymer covering comprises an agent that prevents or reduces the post-implantation hyperplastic response. 
     
     
         37 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the biodegradable polymer covering comprises a first agent that prevents or reduces post-implantation hyperplastic response. 
     
     
         38 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 37 , wherein the biodegradable polymer coating comprises a second agent that prevents or reduces post-implantation hyperplastic response. 
     
     
         39 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the biodegradable metal scaffold is a self-expandable scaffold that expands after implantation. 
     
     
         40 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein said biodegradable polymer coating is permeable to body fluid. 
     
     
         41 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein said biodegradable metal scaffold constitutes less than 50 wt % of said supporting device. 
     
     
         42 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the rare earth metal is neodymium. 
     
     
         43 . The in vivo supporting device of  claim 31 , wherein the biodegradable polymer coating comprises copolymers of polylactides and polyglycolides.