Perspectives on smart stents with sensors: From conventional permanent to novel bioabsorbable smart stent technologies

Abstract

Cardiovascular stent angioplasty represents the pre-eminent choice for the treatment of coronary artery disease. Despite the widespread developments in this arena such as new-generation drug-eluting stents and transient bioabsorbable stents, the stent technologies are still associated with several clinical complications associated with stent thrombosis and in-stent restenosis. Pertinent ‘smart stent’ systems incorporated with sensors are garnering immense research interest in view of their potential to mitigate/reduce several adverse outcomes associated with stents. In this minireview, we attempt to provide a timely overview on the most recent developments in the field of smart stent systems with embedded sensors. The first two sections of this review discuss about the smart stent technology to detect stent endothelialization and in-stent restenosis. Next, we briefly summarize the propitious bioabsorbable smart stent systems, and the review concludes by highlighting the future perspectives that can foster this research arena. The latest advancements in this research field by integrating sensors in stents have demonstrated immense potentiality in mitigating the risks associated with cardiovascular clinical complications to ameliorate the problems associated with millions of people worldwide.