DRUG-ELUTING WALLED STENTS AS A MEANS OF PREVENTING IN-STENT RESTENOSIS WITH COMPLEX LESIONS AND DIABETIC PATIENTS.
US Patent Filing # ER336546666US

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has become the major technique of revascularization, and is now replacing cardiac bypass surgery. PCI is typically performed with a combination of balloon dilatation and stent stabilization.

Although the restenosis rate of coronary stenting is generally 10 to 20%, it can rise to as high as 60% in patients with diabetes or complex lesions. Long-term pressure of the stent struts against the vessel wall stimulates an increased arterial proliferative response, which is the major cause of stent restenosis. Limiting the proliferative response by local radiation (brachytherapy) has indeed reduced restenosis, but at the cost of increasing subsequent thrombogenicity and delayed vessel healing.

This invention improves on existing stent technology by providing an effective pharmaco-mechanical barrier against proliferating cells that tend to infiltrate into the lumen of stented coronary vessels, causing in-stent restenosis.

TABLET DISPENSERS DESIGNED TO INCREASE COMPLIANCE AND SALES OF ASPIRIN FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE PREVENTION.
US Patent Pending # 60/514,668 and US Patent Pending # 60/513,610

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among men and women in the U.S., primarily in the forms of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and cerebrovascular ischemia (stroke). An estimated 1.5 million people in the U.S. experience myocardial infarction annually, and about 500,000 die as a result. From 760,000 to 780,000 people in this country suffer strokes each year, and about 150,000 die. Even if the victims survive, a significant number become incapacitated, many of whom require constant and expensive care.

A common problem among patients advised to take low doses of aspirin is simply that they do not comply. The most common explanation is that asymptomatic people easily forget to take their daily dose. In a 1996 study by Burney et al. paid participants in an aspirin chemoprevention trial received written instruction for its use, but only 35% complied. The great majority of the participants just found difficult to remember and/or track their daily use. Other studies have revealed that women are less likely than men to take a daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks.

The general purpose of the present invention is to provide an advantageous and novel system in which to hold 81 mg tablets of aspirin, in a manner that facilitates monitoring and encourages daily use for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. This invention also provides immediate access to an emergency dose of 325 mg of sublingual aspirin, formulated for instant absorption. We anticipate that this presentation of the product will generate greater interest in the use of aspirin as a safe, effective, and inexpensive way to prevent heart attacks and strokes.