Fraunhofer Scientists Develop Coating that Helps Keeping Tracheal Stents in Place

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB (Stuttgart, Germany) have developed a surface coating for tracheal stents, Medtech Pulse reports. Tracheal stents occasionally slip out of position after surgery, which can cause complete closure of the windpipe. The coating is designed to prevent this from happening.

The researchers tried several different coatings on stents lined with polyurethane film. They found that polyurethane film coated with biological proteins worked best. The coating enables the stent to be incorporated into surrounding tissue by stimulating the attachment of primary respiratory cells in the tissue to the polyurethane film.

The next step is to perform animal tests with the coating. Eventually, the coating could be used for other implants, including pacemaker leads and replacement joints.

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