Many cardiac patients who have percutaneous transluminal
coronary angioplasty (PTCA) receive a stent. A stent is a thin
metal tube which is placed in the coronary artery to prevent it
from closing up again. In practice, 10 percent of these patients
develop complications from stents. The University of Twente in the
Netherlands is therefore starting a research project to develop a
new generation of stents. The project will cost a total of 1.8
million euros.
Approximately 36,000 patients undergo balloon angioplasty (PCTA)
in the Netherlands every year. The procedure entails dilating the
narrowed coronary artery with a small balloon. 87 percent of these
patients receive a stent at the same time. Stents are thin tubes
made of fine mesh stainless steel, whose purpose is to prevent the
artery from blocking up again (restenosis).
Around 10 percent of the patients who have a stent inserted
experience problems because scar tissue forms around it, causing
clots that move into the bloodstream (thrombosis). New stents have
been developed that release medicine locally to reduce the risk of
thrombosis, but they have not solved the problem of scar tissue
formation completely.
Researchers at the University of Twente are therefore starting a
project to develop biomaterial for a new generation of stents. To
this end, the researchers will attach enzymes to the inside of the
stent using bionanotechnology. The idea is that when the stent is
inserted into the body, endothelial cells (which form the natural
lining of blood vessels) bind to the enzymes. A natural layer of
cells, which should prevent thrombosis, will then form on the
inside of the stent. The challenge for the researchers will be to
arrange the enzymes on the stent in such a way that a smooth,
homogeneous layer of cells can arise inside it.
1.8 million
The University of Twente has received a subsidy for this
research project from the BioMedical Materials programme (BMM), a
programme intended for innovative research with clinical relevance.
The project will be carried out by the University of Twente's
research institutes MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology and MIRA
Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, the Medisch Spectrum
Twente, Eindhoven University of Technology and the company NT-MDT.
The entire project will cost 1.8 million euros.
In addition to the subsidy, Pascal Jonkheijm of the University
of Twente has also received a 'young researcher award' from BMM for
the research proposal he submitted.
