Thin films of binary amorphous Zn-Zr alloys developed by magnetron co-sputtering for the production of degradable coronary stents: A preliminary study

摘要

Vascular stentsare endo-prostheses that allow the restoration of blood flow in case of obstruction of a vessel. A stent usually consists of a corrosion-resistant metal such as Nitinol, 316L?steel?or a CoCr alloy [1]. Many studies have been undertaken for the production of?polymer?degradable stents [2,3] or metallic stents [4,5] and, among these, devices made of pure zinc or crystallized alloy based on zinc obtained by molding and?extrusion?are promising in terms of biodegradability,?biocompatibility?and mechanical properties [6], but also concerning the degradation rate of the stent which should to be effective until arterial remodeling and tissue healing are complete [5]. The objective of this preliminary study is the comparison of the degradation in simulated biological medium and the endothelial cytotoxicity of amorphous and crystallized thin ZnZr films according to their composition and structure. In this work, the thin layers were deposited on silicon substrates by magnetron co-sputtering. This technology is already used to make metal stents [7,8].