| Summary: | Coronary in-stent restenosis and late stent thrombosis are the two major inadequacies of
vascular stents that limit its long-term efficacy. Although restenosis has been
successfully inhibited through the use of the current clinical drug-eluting stent which
releases antiproliferative drugs, problems of late-stent thrombosis remain a concern due
to polymer hypersensitivity and delayed re-endothelialization. Thus, the field of coronary
stenting demands devices having enhanced compatibility and effectiveness to endothelial
cells. Nanotechnology allows for efficient modulation of surface roughness, chemistry,
feature size, and drug/biologics loading, to attain the desired biological response.
Hence, surface topographical modification at the nanoscale is a plausible strategy to
improve stent performance by utilizing novel design schemes that incorporate nanofeatures
via the use of nanostructures, particles, or fibers, with or without the use of
drugs/biologics. The main intent of this review is to deliberate on the impact of
nanotechnology approaches for stent design and development and the recent advancements in
this field on vascular stent performance.
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