Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide for the last 2 decades, and the coronary artery disease (CAD) tops this list. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a minimally invasive procedure in which a stent (small scaffold) is placed via catheter to open the blocked coronary arteries. It is a widely used therapy, but vessel healing after stenting remains a challenge worldwide due to restenosis, chronic inflammation, and thrombosis. According to the current guideline the stent can only be placed when the stenosis degree exceeds 70%. It means that most lesions, which do not limit flow, cannot be treated even though they represent a potential cause of rupture and thrombotic occlusion.

A fast and effective endothelisation is a key factor for a successful vascular implant. Therefore, the final aim of this project is to produce a biodegradable preventive stent for nonculprit arteries, able to improve the vascular healing. To date, we obtained 3 polymer blends with great potential for vascular healing. They improve human coronary endothelial cell (HCAEC) adhesion, migration, and created a favourable microenvironment for the cells with anti-inflammatory properties, evaluated by molecular and functional assays (unpublished data).

A high-resolution hybrid 3D bioprinting has been used to create the biodegradable stent with the previously selected polymer blend (R-Gen-100 bioprinter by RegenHU). The materials are currently being tested in vitro using a 2D scaffold.

We are looking for students to actively join our team for research and master projects.
Please enquire if you are interested!