Minimally invasive techniques to occlude flow within blood vessels, initially pioneered in the 1970s with autologous materials and subsequently advanced with increasingly sophisticated engineered biomaterials, are routinely performed for a variety of medical conditions. Contemporary interventional radiologists have at their disposal a wide armamentarium of occlusive agents to treat a range of disease processes through a small incision in the skin. In this review, we provide a historical perspective on endovascular embolization tools, summarize the current state-of-the-art, and highlight burgeoning technologies that promise to advance the field in the near future.
Keywords: biomaterials; biomedical devices; cardiovascular devices; drug delivery systems; microfluidics; microspheres.