Biodegradable Heart Stent Used With Clinical Trials in the UK–Begins to Dissolve and Is Gone in a Year Or So

The stent is made from cornstarch and every year many patients should return to have stents removed and some never do, so this is a solution on that horizon.

It opens the blocked artery via using a catheter to insert like any other type stent procedure. The mesh scaffold turns into carbon dioxide and water in a year. This is an international trial. BD

For years patients suffering from angina have been treated with stents, tiny metal structures, that keep arteries clear and blood flowing.

But now a new biodegradable stent has been produced.

It dissolves over time whilst releasing chemicals to lower the risk of the artery narrowing.

BBC News - Dissolving heart stent trialled