3D printing advances in the development of stents

3D printing technologies have found several applications within the biomedical sector including in the fabrication of medical devices, advanced visualization, diagnosis planning and simulation of surgical procedures. One of the areas in which of 3D printing is anticipated to revolutionised is the manufacturing of implantable bioresorbable drug-eluting scaffolds (stents). The ability to customize and create personalised tailor-made bioresorbable scaffolds has the potential to help solve many of the challenges associated with stenting, such as inappropriate stent sizing and design, abolish late stent thrombosis and help artery growth; 3D printing offers a rapid prototyping and effective method of producing stents making customization of designs feasible. This review provides an overview of the subjects and summarizes the latest research in the 3D printing technologies employed for the design and fabrication of bioresorbable stents including materials with the required printable and mechanical properties. Finally, we present a regulatory perspective on the development and engineering of 3D printed implantable stents.