Current status and outlook of biodegradable metals in neuroscience and their potential applications as cerebral vascular stent materials

Ming Li; Miaowen Jiang; Yuan Gao; Yufeng Zheng; Zhi Liu; Chen Zhou; Tao Huang; Xuenan Gu; Ang Li; Jiancheng Fang; Xunming Ji

doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2021.09.025

Current status and outlook of biodegradable metals in neuroscience and their potential applications as cerebral vascular stent materials

Bioact Mater. 2021 Oct 11:11:140-153. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2021.09.025. eCollection 2022 May.

Authors

Ming Li^{1

2}, Miaowen Jiang¹, Yuan Gao¹, Yufeng Zheng³, Zhi Liu⁴, Chen Zhou^{5

6}, Tao Huang⁷, Xuenan Gu⁸, Ang Li⁹, Jiancheng Fang¹, Xunming Ji^{1

2

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ School of Instrumentation and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
² China-America Institute of Neuroscience, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
⁷ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
⁸ Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, China.
⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.

Abstract

Over the past two decades, biodegradable metals (BMs) have emerged as promising materials to fabricate temporary biomedical devices, with the purpose of avoiding potential side effects of permanent implants. In this review, we first surveyed the current status of BMs in neuroscience, and briefly summarized the representative stents for treating vascular stenosis. Then, inspired by the convincing clinical evidence on the in vivo safety of Mg alloys as cardiovascular stents, we analyzed the possibility of producing biodegradable cerebrovascular Mg alloy stents for treating ischemic stroke. For these novel applications, some key factors should also be considered in designing BM brain stents, including the anatomic features of the cerebral vasculature, hemodynamic influences, neuro-cytocompatibility and selection of alloying elements. This work may provide insights into the future design and fabrication of BM neurological devices, especially for brain stents.

Keywords: Biodegradable metals; Brain stents; Ischemic stroke; Mg alloys; Neuroscience.

Publication types

Review