Controlled degradation behavior of bioresorbable stent via surface strategy – BIORESORB

Cardiovascular diseases are nowadays the leading causes of death worldwide1, mainly caused by coronary artery disease induced by narrowing or occlusion (stenosis) of the arterial vessels. Common treatments are based on angioplasty, using a tiny balloon and inflating it temporarily to place of a small wire mesh tube, called stent, to prevent the artery from closing up again. However, large amount of patients suffers from restenosis after the use of stent, so called in-stent restenosis (ISR) or thrombosis. In order to avoid ISR or thrombosis, bioresorbable stents (BRS) have been developed. BRS should maintain mechanical integrity for 3–6 months and should be fully degraded in 12–24 months.2 In the domain of BRS, Fe alloys are good candidates due to their excellent biocompatibility and appropriate mechanic property. However, Fe alloys exhibits low degradation rate (after 53 months implantation). Therefore, the control of degradation of BRS still remains highly challenging. To meet this challenges, the project BIORESORB aims to develop a novel surface functionalization strategy to accelerate degradation rates of Fe.

References:
1 S. Mendis, P. Puska, B. Norrving, Global Atlas on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control, 2011, World Health Organization. 2 P.K. Bowen, E.R. Shearier, S. Zhao, R.J. Guillory, et al., Adv. Healthc. Mater. 2016, 5, 1121.