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Updated: May 23, 2026
Synthesis of Functionalized 10-nm Polymer-coated Gold Particles for Endothelium Targeting and Drug Delivery
Published on: January 15, 2018
Enhanced visualization of biodegradable polymeric vascular scaffolds by incorporation of gold, silver and magnetite
Frank Luderer1, Ivonne Begerow, Wolfram Schmidt
1Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany. frank.luderer@uni-rostock.de
Abstract:
Due to improved tissue regeneration and the enabling of post-operative minimally invasive interventions in the same vessel segment, biodegradable polymeric scaffolds represent a competitive approach to permanent metallic stents in vascular applications. Despite these advantages some challenges, such as the improvement of the scaffold mechanics and enhancement of scaffold visibility during the implantation procedure, are persisting. Therefore, the scope of our studies was to investigate the potential of gold, silver and magnetite nanoparticles incorporated in a polymeric blend of poly(L-lactide)/poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) for image enhancement in X-ray, magnetic resonance or near-infrared imaging. Their impact on mechanical properties of such modified scaffold materials was also evaluated.
