Innovations in vascular device surface engineering: a clinical review

Atherosclerosis and its consequential disease processes are major causes of morbidity, mortality and healthcare expenditures. New medical therapies have allowed us to better combat this disease. Surgical options for treating coronary and peripheral vessel disease include angioplasty, stenting and bypass grafting. Technological advances in stents and surgical conduits have revolutionized the approach to coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease. However, while these modalities do increase life expectancy, they are associated with their own complications. This article reviews and summarizes the literature regarding the history of the formulation of coronary stents and synthetic conduits, the current state of coronary and small-peripheral vessel stents and prosthetic bypass grafts, and ongoing research to modify and improve stents and prosthetic conduits for bypass grafts with the goal of improving long-term patency rates. An extensive literature review was performed through PubMed. Extensive research efforts are still ongoing in surface modifications to make new endovascular and open surgical devices more effective. The goal of this biomedical research is to develop novel scaffolds that will continue to improve long-term patency rates and provide surgeons with the ideal prosthetic conduit or stent.