A device for carrying a medically useful payload positioned upon the device to a location of interest in a conduit of a patient. The device comprises an intralumenal element sized and dimensioned to travel to a location of interest in a conduit of a patient and a flexible element positioned at a distal end of the intralumenal element wherein the flexible element exhibits the capability to bend substantially unidirectionally. The flexible element, when encountering a non-linear path bends in the permitted direction in conformance to the non-linear path. In particular, embodiments concern a delivery system for delivering a medically useful payload through the vasculature to a site of interest in the patients body. The medically useful payload may be a therapeutic device, such as a stent, and it may be a diagnostic tool, such as an imaging device. Owing to its structural attributes, the presently-inventive delivery system is well suited for carrying medical payload to and through vessel curvature and to branched regions (i.e., bifurcations) in same. Also, the device is well-suited to traveling through a vessel over a guiding element, such as a guidewire, which itself exhibits curvature.
