Stents: Functions, Characteristics, and Materials

Abstract

In the last few decades, there has been a remarkable progress in the field of minimally invasive surgery. Such progress has been supported by the invention and development of novel medical devices, such as stents, guide wires, and filters. Stents may be one of the most important devices used for various lesions including coronary, carotid, biliary, etc. Materials used for these devices are divers, ranging from metallic materials (e.g., stainless steels, cobalt-chromium alloys, nitinol, magnesium alloys, etc.) to biodegradable polymers. This chapter introduces the functions of stents and the currently used materials, and also gives some prospect for future materials and device development