Stent device recruits nearby cells to prevent infection

Stents, which are essentially meshed wire tubes, are most frequently used by surgeons to widen narrowed blood vessels and maintain blood flow in people with cardiovascular disease. Stents can also be used to treat pathological constriction of the windpipe.

This kind of respiratory stenosis, which may be caused by tumours, chronic infections or congenital deformities, can be life threatening.

However, complications of stent placement can occur and include a shifting of the implant, which can partially or completely obstruct the respiratory tract and bacterial infection, triggering pneumonia. One key factor behind these complications is that the stents have no barrier-forming cells of the kind usually present in the respiratory system, whose task is to fend off bacteria and inhaled substances such as particulates.

Noting this, a team of scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) in Stuttgart, together with clinicians at a nearby hospital, initiated the ‘REGiNA’ project, the goal of which was to develop surface coatings that enable the stents to be incorporated into the surrounding tissue.