Medical technology development has historically moved along a path in which technology is increasingly disease-specific or, one might say, "lesion-specifc", and increasingly less inclined to cause lateral damage or side effects.
It is therefore along this natural path that bioabsorbable stents are being developed for treatment of coronary artery disease with a more-specific focus on the need to maintain lumen patency following coronary revascularization. First, bare metal stents were prone to restenosis. Then drug-eluting stents emerged to address that restenosis problem and are now used in over 70% of angioplasty procedures. The premise now, and the motivation for bioabsorbable stent development, is that the value of the stent maintaining patency diminishes over time, and may in fact be associated with complications, such that a stent that is absorbed or dissolved may leave a healthier coronary artery than one with an implanted stent that is no longer necessary.
See the news story, below, on a bioabsorbable stent clinical trial in New Zealand:
A revolutionary new tool in the battle against heart disease is being trialled in New Zealand. It is called a bio-absorbable stent, and it is used to un-clog blocked arteries and then – unlike metal stents – it dissolves once the artery heals around it. See link.
MedMarket Diligence has published a global market report on drug-eluting, bare metal and other coronary stents (including bioasorbable stents). The report is described here.
Posted via email from medmarket’s posterous
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