The Development of a Basic-Prototype for a Fully Biodegradable Coronary Stent

The coronary stents currently available on the market are bare metal stents (BMS) and drug
eluting stents (DES) which can lead to complications including restenosis (re-narrowing of the
blood vessel) and late thrombosis. Furthermore after stenting, the blood vessel becomes caged
with metal, meaning that late luminal enlargement and advantageous vascular remodelling can
no longer occur. Given the potentially fatal complication of late thrombosis, many experts
question the need for long-term vessel scaffolding. An absorbable stent that dissolves over
time might overcome various metal stent-related problems.
Arterius Ltd is one of the few companies in the world (others including Abbott Laboratories
and Arterial Remodelling Technologies) that is developing biodegradable stents that are
comprised of drug and polymer. The device aims to significantly cut the cost of heart disease
treatment in the UK and across the globe.
Following the development of proprietary stent designs, a preliminary polymer-drug
formulation, tube extrusion and studies to investigate the laser-cutting feasibility of these
tubes, Arterius now wishes to explore methods of manufacturing prototype stents with the
enhanced mechanical properties of a biodegradable polymer. The latter approach is based on
the recent successful data produced by the Polymer IRC group at Bradford
University, to investigate solid-phase orientation of extruded biodegradable polymeric tubes.