New interventional technology

Structural Design of Vascular Stents: A Review

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is currently the most conventional and effective method for clinically treating cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. Stent implantation, as one of the ways of PCI in the treatment of coronary artery diseases, has become a hot spot in scientific research with more and more patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. However, vascular stent implanted into vessels of patients often causes complications such as In-Stent Restenosis (ISR). The vascular stent is one of the sophisticated medical devices, a reasonable structure of stent can effectively reduce the complications. In this paper, we introduce the evolution, performance evaluation standards, delivery and deployment, and manufacturing methods of vascular stents. Based on a large number of literature pieces, this paper focuses on designing structures of vascular stents in terms of “bridge (or link)” type, representative volume unit (RVE)/representative unit cell (RUC), and patient-specific stent. Finally, this paper gives an outlook on the future development of designing vascular stents.

Intravascular stents

Intravascular stents have been developed to address acute arterial closure and restenosis, the major limitations of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Metallic stents in human clinical trials have shown efficacy in treating acute closure and, in selected patients, lowering the restenosis rate. This review delineates the characteristics of the ideal stent and examines ongoing clinical trials that are evaluating various stent prototypes. Developmental stents that use radiopaque and bioabsorbable materials are presented. The potential role for intravascular stents as vehicles for localized drug delivery and gene therapy is discussed.