ABSTRACT

This article will review whats new and exciting where the worlds of cardiology and materials science meet. I hope to look at ways to improve energy efficiency in manufacturing, bio-compatibility and function

What are Heart Stents? When are they Necessary?

It can be argued that the heart is the most important muscle in the human body. It is responsible for pumping roughly 7192 litres of blood around the body each and every day [1]. Like all muscle tissue, the heart requires a blood supply to bring in oxygen and remove waste. The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart, but they can become narrowed or even blocked by plaque (cholesterol and other fatty deposits)[2]; when this happens the heart muscle doesn’t receive the required amount of oxygen to function properly and may eventually lead to a heart attack.

In order to open up the blocked coronary artery, doctors will carefully guide a deflated balloon to the blockage, where it is then inflated, pushing the plaque back up against the artery walls. This process is known as an W. When the balloon is removed the vessel is supposed to remain open, this however, isn’t always the case. According to the American Heart Association 40% of arteries opened with balloon angioplasty alone close again within six months [3] by placing a stent in the artery, the amount of restenosis (or closing of the artery following an angioplasty) is reduced to 25%[4].

A heart stent is a wire mesh tube that is placed in the artery during an angioplasty after the balloon is inflated. It remains in place and acts as a scaffold pushing the plaque back against the coronary artery walls.

References

  1. Kristen Forrest, Denise Schnabel, and Margaret Williams. Math by the Month. Mathematics of the heart. http://my.nctm.org/eresources/view_media.asp?article_id=7309. February 2006
  2. Heart Attack Multimedia. Heart Hub for Patients. http://www.hearthub.org/hc-heart-attack.htm American Heart Association. 2008
  3. George Dangas, MD; Frank Kuepper, MD. American Heart Association. Restenosis: Repeat Narrowing of a Coronary Artery http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/105/22/2586 . 2002.
  4. George Dangas, MD; Frank Kuepper, MD. American Heart Association. Restenosis: Repeat Narrowing of a Coronary Artery http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/105/22/2586 . 2002.

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