Biodegradable polymer-based stents: materials, design, and biomedical applications

Today, stents are used in the treatment of various vascular diseases particularly cardiovascular diseasesas well as in drug delivery and tissue support systems for organs that are compatible with stent geometry. The ability of stents to provide long-term, controlled, and localized treatment in the anatomical region where they are applied is one of their most important advantages in increasing clinical success. Therefore, stent technologies have been continuously improved from the past to the present, and different material-based stent formulations have been added to the literature. Although metal-based stents were mostly preferred in the past, the various disadvantages of these stents, such as corrosion, chronic inflammation, restenosis, and long-term side effects, have become increasingly debated. The existence of these limitations and side effects has led researchers to alternative materials, and polymeric stents have come to the forefront. Biodegradable polymeric stents, thanks to their decomposition into harmless degradation products after completing their targeted functions in the body, offer significant advantages such as eliminating the need for a second surgical intervention, and are considered a promising approach in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the ease of synthesis, high biocompatibility, adjustable mechanical properties, low toxicity, and wide variety of polymer materials have made them prime candidates for stent applications. Furthermore, polymeric stents offer customizable structures depending on targeted clinical requirements; mechanical strength, degradation rate, and drug release profiles can be optimized by combining different polymers. Thanks to a wide range of synthesis and production methods, polymeric stents can be developed in different geometries and functional formulations. This review article systematically classifies polymer-based stents found in the literature; the types of polymers used, their synthesis and production methods, and their biomedical application areas are discussed in detail. This study aims to provide a fundamental knowledge base on polymeric stents and to serve as a guiding resource for future research in this field.