New Stent Uses Revolutionary Biomaterial

A revolutionary new biomaterial is being used to develop biodegradable stents for use in cardiac surgery.

Researchers at the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials (NJCBM, Piscataway, USA) at Rutgers University (Newark, NJ, USA) developed a library of degradable polymers comprising 10,000 theoretically possible compositions and applied combinatorial methods to identify the best possible biomaterial for the new stent. The resulting biodegradable, biocompatible polymer is exceptionally strong and highly suitable for stent applications. In addition, the material was designed to be radio-opaque, a property critical to the proper placement of the stent in the artery.

The new stent based on the polymer's specifications is being designed and tested by REVA Medical (San Diego, CA, USA), and is intended to act as a temporary scaffold to support the blood vessel during the healing process and maintain blood flow. It subsequently dissolves, leaving the patient free of any permanent implant. The REVA Endovascular Study of a Bioresorbable Coronary Stent (RESORB) trial is evaluating the stents safety in approximately 30 patients at multiple sites in Germany and Brazil.

"Our unconventional discovery process integrates combinatorial polymer libraries, high-throughput testing, and computational modeling. This results in a much faster path to prototype development and a reduction in the cost and risk associated with the use of new, proprietary biomaterials,” said lead investigator Professor Joachim Kohn, director of the NJCBM.

RESORB is a non-randomized study of the resorbable stent with an initial assessment of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 30 days and a follow-up period of five years.


Related Links:
New Jersey Center for Biomaterials
Rutgers University
REVA Medical