Biodegradable Gastric Stent Could Eliminate Repeat Procedures After Bariatric Surgery

Gastric leaks are a serious complication after weight-loss surgery that can lead to infection, prolonged hospitalization, and repeated interventions. Conventional drainage stents were designed for the bile ducts and must be removed after healing, adding another procedure. Clinicians therefore need devices that improve drainage while lowering treatment burden. In response to this need, researchers have developed a biodegradable, 3D-printed gastric stent designed to enhance performance and avoid routine removal.

Developed at NYU Abu Dhabi, the device is called BRIDGE (Biodegradable aRchitected Internal DrainaGE). It is a 3D-printed gastric stent intended to treat gastric leaks by maintaining effective internal drainage during healing. Because the stent is made from biodegradable material, it is designed to safely break down after treatment, which could eliminate the need for a separate removal procedure.

BRIDGE works through a re-engineered internal lattice architecture that targets both fluid flow and mechanical stability. The structured lattice is designed to improve flexibility and resist kinking so that drainage can be maintained across challenging anatomy. The team advanced prior work on a flower-inspired gastric stent by redesigning the device from the inside out rather than changing its overall shape.

Laboratory testing demonstrated that the lattice architecture more than doubled drainage performance compared with conventional stents. The design also withstood bends more than seven times tighter without kinking, helping preserve luminal patency when sharply angled or compressed. The research was published in Device and leveraged advanced three-dimensional printing to integrate geometry and materials into a single, purpose-built implant.

The investigators note that gastric leaks occur in a small percentage of bariatric procedures yet carry significant morbidity and resource use. Because existing devices require endoscopic retrieval, a biodegradable solution could reduce repeat procedures if future studies confirm safety and efficacy. The same engineering approach may be extended to other minimally invasive drainage devices used throughout the body, though additional preclinical and clinical evaluations are still needed.

“Medical devices are often adapted from other applications rather than designed for the specific clinical challenge they are intended to address. By combining advanced 3D printing with biodegradable materials, we created a stent that improves drainage while reducing the burden of treatment for patients,” said Parima Phowarasoontorn, research assistant in the Ramadi Lab at NYU Abu Dhabi and first author of the study.

“This work demonstrates how re-engineering of medical technologies with advanced manufacturing can fundamentally improve their performance. By redesigning the internal architecture of the stent and introducing biodegradable materials, we have tried to tackle key limitations of current devices while moving toward treatments that we hope are more effective for patients,” said Khalil Ramadi, assistant professor of Bioengineering at NYU Abu Dhabi and Global Network Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

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