When you break a bone, a cast holds it in place while it heals, and then it is removed. In a similar way, when you have a blocked artery, a new type of stent props it open and then dissolves in your body after two years. Conventional stents are permanent implants, but the new, biodegradable stent leaves nothing behind in your heart. This means great things for your heart health, as your treated vessel will be able to resume its natural pulsing movements and respond to increased demand for blood flow during activities such as exercise. It won’t, however, be constrained by any stent.
This kind of stent is made from polylactide, a naturally soluble material that is commonly used in medical procedures such as those involving dissolving sutures. The class D, or high-risk, medical device (as is any stent for the heart) is being used in an on-going global clinical trial, directed by Associate Professor Tan Huay Cheem. Currently, over 600 people are taking part in the trial, but it is hoped that 1,000 patients from up to 100 centres in Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America, will see their heart wellness improve with this device before the trial ends.
According to Professor Tan, the race to create a perfect biodegradable stent started as soon as the idea was first conceived 30 years ago, but it was nearly a decade before the Absorb, manufactured by Abbott, was developed and commercialised. The Absorb stent is now available in Europe, the Middle East, parts of Latin America and parts of Asia, such as India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Though this is the product being used in the global trial, the Absorb is not the only biodegradable stent out there. A team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are working on dissolving stents made of other materials, and Professor Freddy Boey, provost of NTU and Professor Subbu Venkatraman, chair of the school of material science and engineering, has now founded the biotechnology firm Amaranth Medical to take the NTU device to clinical trials. These will start this month in Colombia, South America, though Professor Venkatraman estimates it will be two to three years before their stent is approved for use.
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