Grafenstent

Research Project, 2019 – 2022

Each year, approximately 7.3 million people die from coronary artery disease worldwide. Stents are now implanted in about 3 million patients annually. Compared to conventional ones, graphene coated stents can offer potentials for controlled drug delivery and at the same time possess inherent antibacterial properties, thus improving stent functionality and decrease inflammatory behavior of the stent surgery. On the other hand, graphene has many useful mechanical and chemical properties as a biomaterial, for instance the high conformability to the applied surface and high specific surface area which is highly suitable for attachment of bioactive molecules that can be integrated with human body.This research will use functionalized graphene as a novel coating for stents, to address the issues such as stent thrombosis with the current generation of stents and mimic in vivo environments for study cell-material interactions. A model system that replicates the flow conditions in blood vessels will be developed. This platform will facilitate our understanding of the potential as well as assist optimization of graphene coated stent surfaces in a realistic biological setting. This work will contribute to fundamential understanding of eventual graphene degradation, cell growth/ adhesion, tendency to blood coagulation/clot formation and toxicity issues in a graphene coated stent application.