Basic HTML Version
205
Global Partnerships, Local ICT Solutions
Research Project
Designing Biodegradable Stents
In modern society, advances in biotechnology have made it possible for the quality and length of human life to be vastly
improved. One such advancement has been the development of the stent, a tiny mesh 'tube' which, when inserted into a
natural passage in the body, serves to prevent or counteract a disease-induced constriction in the flow of blood or other
bodily fluids.
Permanent metal drug-eluting stents, i.e. stents which
slowly release a drug, are the best-performing stents
in clinical use today. There are, however, drawbacks
to using permanent stents: they induce a chronic
foreign-body stimulus in the host artery, obstruct future
cardiac interventions and also prevent normal artery
mechanical behaviour, to name but a few. If the stent
can maintain its strength long enough to assist in the
healing of the artery, and gradually transfer load onto
the native vessel as it degrades, a fully healed artery
may be restored. Thus there is much interest in the
design of biodegradable stents.
Current research is concerned with a preliminary
investigation into the properties of materials suitable
for use in stent manufacture, the design of associated
stent geometries, and computational simulations.
This project is supported by Disa Vascular, and led
by Professor Daya Reddy, with one master’s student
Richard Pauck.