Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Devices
Open Access
ISSN: 2475-7586
ISSN: 2475-7586
Mahyar Fazeli and Faegheh Fazeli
This paper covers the fabrication method of 316L stainless steel cardiovascular stent and it studies and also compares the mechanical and physical properties of the fabricated stent with the commercial stent. The main purpose of this research is to make the cardiovascular stent in an inexpensive and new way to reduce the final cost of the product for patients. According to the diligence and meticulousness, the way of laser welding of 316L stainless steel thin wires is chosen. The type and general shape of the stent are chosen according to the removed stent from patient’s body. Furthermore, the polymer frame is designed by means of graphic software and constructed by the laser-cut machine to deform the 316L stainless steel thin wires. The micro hardness test indicates that the welded wires joints are 90 Vickers harder than commercial stent wires joints. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of laser welded parts of the fabricated stent shows a uniform connection without any cracks. The ultimate tensile stress (UTS) of laser welded spots are compared with the commercial stent by tensile test and it reveals that the UTS of the fabricated stent is about 41 MPa more than the commercial stent. The metallographic images show that there is not any change in steel structure due to laser welding process and the time and temperature of the process should be optimized to obtain the appropriate strength. Paclitaxel-loaded PLGA is coated by the spraying method. Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis) is used to measure the in vitro drug release. Characteristics of the coating are studied by Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).