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Drug‐Coated Angioplasty Balloon Catheters: Coating Compositions and Methods
Author(s) -
Berg Madeleine Caroline,
Kolodziej Herbert,
Cremers Bodo,
Gershony Gary,
Speck Ulrich
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201180067
Subject(s) - angioplasty , balloon , coating , stenosis , medicine , balloon catheter , stent , biomedical engineering , materials science , radiology , surgery , nanotechnology
Flow‐limiting stenosis or total occlusion of coronary, cerebral, or peripheral arteries is very common. Minimally invasive treatment with balloon catheters optionally combined with stent implantation immediately relieves symptoms. However, renarrowing of dilated vessel segments due to excessive scar formation frequently reverses the initial success observed soon after treatment. Coating of balloons with antiproliferative drugs is a promising approach to overcome this problem. The coating of angioplasty balloon membranes is a challenging task. It must ensure homogeneous distribution of the antiproliferative agent and adherence to the balloon membrane during handling and on the way to the treatment site in a distant artery, where the agent should be immediately released and transferred to the vessel wall when the balloon is inflated. In vitro and in vivo testing methods are described. The impact of different kinds of balloons, drugs, additives, and coating methods has been investigated, and the results of representative examples including clinically tested products are presented and discussed.