Diamond-like carbon coating is a new strategy to improve the surface properties of ureteral stents. This novel surface effectively decreases friction, encrustation tendencies and biofilm formation.

No abstract

The double-J stents used today for palliative artificial urinary diversion very often show extreme formation of encrustations, even a short time after implantation. Despite increased scientific material development, the complication rate has not really been strongly influenced. Grant-aided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, we chose a new interdisciplinary and translational approach by coating standard stent materials with plasma-deposited amorphous diamond-like carbon. These stents show clearly reduced rates of encrustation in vitro. Ongoing clinical trials demonstrate a further enhancement of this effect in vivo. The underlying mechanisms are being investigated by extending the established in vitro model, thereby pushing research in this field to a new level.

a-C:H coatings are a novel strategy leading to an enhancement of long-term applicability of ureteral stents and catheters and to improved patient comfort.