Electrospun bioresorbable polymer membranes for coronary artery stents

Abstract

Percutaneous coronary intervention, a common treatment for atherosclerotic coronary artery lesions, occasionally results in perforations associated with increased mortality rates. Stents coated with a bioresorbable polymer membrane may offer an effective solution for sealing coronary artery perforations. Additionally, such coatings could be effective in mitigating neointimal hyperplasia within the vascular lumen and correcting symptomatic aneurysms. This study examines polymer membranes fabricated by electrospinning of polycaprolactone, polydioxanone, polylactide-co-caprolactone, and polylactide-co-glycolide. In uniaxial tensile tests, all the materials appear to surpass theoretically derived elongation thresholds necessary for stent deployment, albeit polydioxanone membranes are found to disintegrate during the experimental balloon expansion. As revealed by in vitro hemocompatibility testing, polylactide-co-caprolactone membranes exhibit higher thrombogenicity compared to other evaluated polymers, while polylactide-co-glycolide samples fail within the first day post-implantation into the abdominal aorta in rats. The PCL membrane exhibited significant water leakage in the permeability test. Comprehensive evaluation of mechanical testing, bio- and hemocompatibility, as well as biodegradation dynamics shows the advantage of membranes based on and the mixture of polylactide-co-caprolactone and polydioxanone over other polymer groups. These findings lay a foundational framework for conducting preclinical studies on stent configurations in large laboratory animals, emphasizing that further investigations under conditions closely mimicking clinical use are imperative for making definitive conclusions.