Next Generation of Stents Incorporate Enamel Coating
Scientific American described the potential iteration of stents in the years to come. Coating the stents offers advantages, such as preventing tissue from growing into the mesh material of the stent and limiting the possibility of allergic reactions.
MIV Therapeutics, Incorporated is developing a new stent design to address these considerations. The company is coating stents with hydroxyapatite. The material is found in tooth enamel and has properties similar to ceramic. The company suggests that this material is less likely to exacerbate blood clots than stents manufactured with polymer.
Last year, the company completed a safety and efficacy and safety study over nine months in Brazil. Data collected validates the safety of the new ceramic-coated stents, VESTAsync, as reported at the meeting of the American College of Cardiologists.
The company recently commenced a clinical trial to assess efficacy of the new stents. They plan to recruit 120 patients. This data will be leveraged to obtain the CE mark, required for European marketing.
Stents are often used to treat patients with narrowing of the arteries. The devices are placed during angioplasty procedures. The current generation of stents available on the market are manufactured with polymers and drug-eluting. That design was created to minimize the likelihood of clots. Patients still often require taking anti-coagulation therapies.
June 5, 2008 Related topics: New Technology & Innovation, Cardiology