Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a disease in which a waxy substance (plaque) builds up inside the coronary arteries. This plaque can harden which narrows the coronary arteries and reduces the flow of blood to the heart which can lead to cardiac arrest.
The current treatment of choice for CHD is metallic stents. However, reoccurrence of the blockage remains a major concern with reported rates of between 15-49.7% for bare metal stents and between 13.8 – 35.9% for inorganic coated stents. Hence, there has been significant interest and development in recent years in the field of biodegradable stents which appear to overcome these problems. However, the material used in biodegradable stents is limited and the current stent manufacturing method of laser machining is not optimal for manufacturing polymeric biodegradable coronary artery stents.
The MRI has a strong track record in the field of coatings for catheters, development of drug eluting stents and the development of biodegradable polymer blends with tailored degradation profiles and mechanical properties. This knowledge is combined to produce solutions for use in the field of biodegradable stents, where polymers and composites with specific mechanical properties and degradation profiles are required.

Funded projects:
Fabrication and In Vitro Evaluation of Novel Polymer-Based Biodegradable Coronary Stents Manufactured using 3D-Printing
Summary: This study aims to fabricate biodegradable stents utilizing fused deposition modelling. The PI on the study is Dr. Declan Devine.
Funding agency: AIT President Seed funding
Researcher: Yuanyuan Chen
Duration: 2015 to 2017
Completed projects:
Development of Drug Eluting Biodegradable Nanocomposite for Use in Coronary Stents
Summary: This study aims to utilize nanotechnology to enhance the mechanical properties of the polymer thereby eliminating post-production processing. The PI on the study is Dr Declan Devine.
Funding agency: AIT President Seed funding
Duration: 2013 to 2015
Publications
Biodegradable Stents Publications
P. McDonald, L. Geever, J. Lyons, and C. Higginbotham, (2010). Physical and Mechanical Properties of Blends Based on Poly (dl-lactide), Poly (l-lactide-glycolide) and Poly (ε-caprolactone) Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering, 49: 7, 678 — 687.
Y Chen, LM Geever, JA Killion, JG Lyons, CL Higginbotham, DM Devine, (2017). Halloysite nanotube reinforced polylactic acid composite, Polymer Composites 38 (10), 2166-2173.
Y Chen, A Murphy, D Scholz, LM Geever, JG Lyons, DM Devine, (2018). Surface‐modified halloysite nanotubes reinforced poly (lactic acid) for use in biodegradable coronary stents, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 46521.
P. McDonald, J. Lyons, L. Geever, C. Higginbotham (2010). In vitro degradation and drug release from polymer blends based on poly(DL-lactide), poly(L-lactide-glycolide) and poly(e-caprolactone) J.Mater Sci 45, 1284–1292.