A coating method and a coating apparatus are used to apply coating material to struts of a medical device (e.g., stent) which bound openings. The method involves optically scanning the medical device to produce position information identifying positions of the struts, using the position information to calculate a predetermined position, setting an applying manner to apply the coating material based on the predetermined position, setting an applying path accommodating the applying manner, and relatively moving the medical device and an applicator head along the applying route and path while dispensing the coating material from the applicator head and applying the coating material to the struts.