Introduction of a new coronary stent with enhanced radioopacity and hemocompatibility

Despite procedural progress, stenting therapy is still limited by subacute thrombosis, late restenosis as well as anticoagulant related bleeding complications. These limitations are attributed to the insufficient hemocompatibility of the implants as well as their poor X-ray visibility which impedes the control of the devices during angiography. Therefore a new cardiovascular stent is proposed showing a high radioopacity as well as a high hemocompatibility. This was realized by a hybrid design, consisting of a tantalum substrate and an amorphous silicon carbide coating, allowing a separate optimization of the stent body and the coating.