title: Shrinking the Supply Chain for Implantable Coronary Stent Devices.
abstract: Stenting treatments for the management of disease in the heart, arterial and venous systems, biliary ducts, urethras, ureters, oesophageal tract and prostate have made enormous technical advances since their introduction into clinical use. The progression from metallic to polymer based bio-absorbable stents, coupled with the advances in additive manufacturing techniques, present a unique opportunity to completely re-envision the design, manufacture, and supply chain of stents. This paper looks at current stenting trends and proposes a future where the stent supply chain is condensed from ~150 days to ~20 min. The Cardiologist therefore has the opportunity to become a designer, manufacturer and user with patients receiving custom stents specific to their unique pathology that will be generated, delivered and deployed in the Cath-lab. The paper will outline this potentially revolutionary development and consider the technical challenges that will need to be overcome in order to achieve these ambitious goals. A high level overview of the generating eluting stents in situ program-GENESIS-is outlined including some early experimental work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Design & Manufacturing Technology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Republic of Ireland. sean.moore@ul.ie.
authors.forename: Sean S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Design & Manufacturing Technology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Republic of Ireland.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: O'Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Department of Management Engineering, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Verdecchia
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000639:trends*; D003331:Coronary Vessels; D006801:Humans; D015607:Stents / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000639:trends*
keywords: 3D printing; Bio-absorbable; Bio-degradable; Stents; Vascular