Next generation, drug eluting and bioresorbable stent for cardiovascular disease

The leading cause of death in the globe is cardiovascular disease. Two thirds of these deaths are caused by the underlying pathology of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis, which is very critical vascular disease, is caused by the agglomeration of plaque in the arteries, blocking the blood flow in vessel. This phenomenon appears as our abnormalities of health, ranging from high blood pressure levels, high cholesterol levels to ischemia in severe case. Due to this, cardiovascular disease has attracted intensive attention in fields of medical and bio-medical engineering. An inflatable metal stent is frequently used in hospitals to repair blocked atherosclerotic arteries. However, it is still challenging in terms of two critical barriers: i) Complex surgical process for removing stent and ii) "in-stent restenosis," a wound reaction in which the vessel's lumen narrows again by excessive proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, is what causes stented veins to frequently silently re-block. To overcome these two main challenges, novel kinds of stent technology have been researched in terms of drug eluting technology and bioresorbable stent. Here we discuss the present state of stent technology and the potential of multi-functional stent for preventing of cardiovascular disease.