title: Use of Micropatterned Thin Film Nitinol in Carotid Stents to Augment Embolic Protection.
abstract: Stenting is an alternative to endarterectomy for the treatment of carotid artery stenosis. However, stenting is associated with a higher risk of procedural stroke secondary to distal thromboembolism. Hybrid stents with a micromesh layer have been proposed to address this complication. We developed a micropatterned thin film nitinol (M-TFN) covered stent designed to prevent thromboembolism during carotid intervention. This innovation may obviate the need or work synergistically with embolic protection devices. The proposed double layered stent is low-profile, thromboresistant, and covered with a M-TFN that can be fabricated with fenestrations of varying geometries and sizes. The M-TFN was created in multiple geometries, dimensions, and porosities by sputter deposition. The efficiency of various M-TFN to capture embolic particles was evaluated in different atherosclerotic carotid stenotic conditions through in vitro tests. The covered stent prevented emboli dislodgement in the range of 70%-96% during 30 min duration tests. In vitro vascular cell growth study results showed that endothelial cell elongation, alignment and growth behaviour silhouettes significantly enhance, specifically on the diamond-shape M-TFN, with the dimensions of 145 µm × 20 µm and a porosity of 32%. Future studies will require in vivo testing. Our results demonstrate that M-TFN has a promising potential for carotid artery stenting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. mas461@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Mahdis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shayan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. btj1@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Brian T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Jankowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. pus8@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Puneeth
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shridhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. yjchun@pitt.edu.|Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. yjchun@pitt.edu.|McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. yjchun@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Youngjae
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chun
keywords: carotid artery; micro mesh stent; micropatterning; thin film nitinol