Design and Manufacturing of Drug Eluting Depot Stents with Micro-sized Drug Reservoirs

摘要

The effects of micro-sized through-hole drug reservoirs on several key clinical attributes of the drug eluting depot stent were investigated. Finite element models were developed to predict the mechanical integrity of a balloon-expandable stent at various stages such as manufacturing and deployment, as well as the stent radial strength and fatigue life. Results show that (1) creating drug reservoirs on a stent could impact the stent fatigue resistance to certain degrees, and (2) drug reservoirs on the stent crowns led to much greater loss in all key clinical attributes than reservoirs on other locations. Based on these findings, an optimized depot stent was proposed/manufactured and proven to be a feasible design.