Much of the development around bioabsorbable stents and other bioabsorbable implants have focused on a polymer, PLLA (poly-L-lactic acid) as the base material. Some new research indicates that a Zinc alloy may make a better bioabsorbable stent as compared to PLLA. The Zinc would degrade through a corrosion mechanism.
For more information, see:
QMED Online, Jan.16, 2014:
- http://www.qmed.com/mpmn/medtechpulse/stent-designers-think-zinc?cid=nl.qmed02
“…The most advanced absorbable stents available today are made from polylactic acid (PLLA). Based on nearly five years of clinical trial data, for example, Abbott Vascular’s bioresorbable Absorb scaffold compares favorably to the company’s metal-based XIENCE stent, the current industry standard for nonabsorbable drug-eluting stents….”
Also, see the link to research by Patrick Bowen, Jaroslaw Drelich, and others at Michigan Tech from April 30, 2013 with figures:
- http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2013/april/story88993.html#idc-container
Patrick Bowen also indicates that a preprint of the paper accepted for publication in Journal of Advanced Materials, March 14, 2013, entitled: “Zinc Exhibits Ideal Physiological Corrosion Behavior for Bioabsorbable Stents” is available at:
- Openly available preprint versions of the communication are available on ResearchGate ( http://goo.gl/iPPSB ) and Scribd ( http://goo.gl/I3lrs ).
Some highlights of the discussion include: