Affiliations: [a] Shanghai Institute for Minimally Invasive Therapy, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China | [b] Shanghai Microport Medical (Group) Co., Ltd, Shanghai 201203, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Zhaohua Chang, Shanghai Institute for Minimally Invasive Therapy, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China. Tel./Fax: +86 21 55271201; E-mail: zchang@microport.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Drug-eluting stent technology has rapidly developed in recent years. In particular, stents are used in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which has become a vital method in clinic treatment. Although various methods are currently used to prepare drug-eluting stents, these methods are associated with respective limitations. OBJECTIVE: To design equipment for preparing drug-eluting stents with single-sided coating and to precisely accomplish the drug-coating process for a single side. METHODS: This coating equipment prepared stents in three stages: the precise displacement and translational motion and rotational motion of the operating platform; the recognition and positioning of the stent strut; and the utilisation of a pL-scale inkjet system. In order to control and synchronise the work of each subsystem, a central processing unit was installed. RESULTS: Through the analysis and solutions of various problems occurring in the experiment, the spraying equipment was improved, and its functions were perfected. Thus, the successful operation of the spraying equipment was realised. CONCLUSIONS: The design of the equipment introduced in this article meets the requirements for preparing drug-eluting stents.
Keywords: Coating equipment design, drug-eluting stent, single-sided drug coating
