Polish researchers are working on external biodegradable stent for bypass surgery

Next gen stent is expected to contribute to the longer patency of the arterial bypass grafts, which is still a serious problem in cardiac surgery. 

Piotr Denis, an expert at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and CEO of StentSolution, one of the companies developing the technology, said: “We are creating a polymer extravascular stent, which is designed to significantly improve the effectiveness of the bypass graft surgery, which means a longer and calmer life of patients with atherosclerosis.”

He added that several teams around the world are working on this type of stent, but the solutions proposed so far have not improved the situation or even made it worse. “Our solution offers a paradigm shift and a completely new approach. Until now, surgical teams have been working with completely different technologies, which have several significant drawbacks', he said.

The patient's own vein is most often used to bypass the coronary arteries. It is usually a saphenous vein implanted between the aorta and the narrowed coronary artery. As a result of the stress caused by high arterial pressure, this vessel undergoes a natural reconstruction process, its thickness increases, which unfortunately happens inwards. This leads to a reduction in the lumen of the vessel and its closing.

Cardiac surgeon Dr. Grzegorz Suwalski said: “Our biodegradable external stent will reduce the stress on the walls of the venous bypass by strengthening it evenly along its entire length. The stent will allow us to direct the reconstruction of the implanted vein towards an almost new artery. Thus, the bypass will retain its patency for a longer period and will have the properties of an artery, it will be resistant to high pressure.”

He explained that after the reconstruction of the bridge is completed, the stent should biodegrade and disappear, adding there is no registered product on the market that would correspond to the developed technology. The Polish design is a pioneering solution that will give patients with coronary atherosclerosis, one of the main causes of mortality, a chance for a longer and better life. According to predictions, the number of patients with atherosclerosis in the world will exceed 41 million people in 2023.

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery is the most frequently performed cardiac surgery in the world. Over 876,000 such procedures were performed in 2018. Due to the population growth and increasing life expectancy, more people develop atherosclerosis. For now, there is no way to reverse it, or at least stop the development of atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries of the heart muscle. However, surgical procedures are helpful.

Specialists cite 10 year observations carried out at Duke University to compare pharmacological treatment with surgical treatment (coronary artery bypass graft). The observation was carried out on a group of 1,200 patients, and the results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It turned out that the application of cardiac surgery resulted in a significantly lower percentage of deaths and extended the median survival by 1.4 years in the most difficult group of patients.

Paweł Nowicki, CEO of the BTM Fund said: “At the moment, the best option to help patients with atherosclerosis, which can already be considered an epidemic, is to increase the blood supply to the coronary arteries by implanting a bypass graft. It has been known for a long time that the more developed the atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, the stronger the indications for bypass surgery. That is why it is so important to further optimise this procedure. It is a field where Polish scientists and inventors have a lot to offer and are often pioneers of a completely new approach.”

The Polish biodegradable external stent is being developed by a multidisciplinary team led by three scientists from the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research PAS: Piotr Denis, Judyta Dulnik and Professor Paweł Sajkiewicz. The project is also supported by Dr. Grzegorz Suwalski from Quantum Innovations, the creator of such cardiosurgical innovations as Heart Sense and Heart Guard. The project is financed by the BTM Fund, an investment fund active in the life science sector. (PAP)

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