Dec 12, 2025
Smart stent coating to increase patient safety
Dr. Daniel Kaiser (l.) und Dr. Manfred Maitz (r.).
Stents and other vascular implants can activate blood clotting, which can lead to dangerous blood clots (trombi), particularly in the vessels that supply the brain. Preventing such trombi requires platelet inhibition with medication. However, this increases the risk of bleeding throughout the body. To minimize these risks, a research team at the Faculty of Medicine of TU Dresden together with the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden is developing an innovative hydrogel coating for vascular stents.
The coating releases an antiplatelet agent (GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor) adaptively, only when there is increased local coagulation activity. The goal is to inhibit platelets in a targeted manner without increasing the risk of bleeding throughout the body. The efficacy and safety of this technology is being investigated in laboratory tests under clinically realistic conditions. If successfully implemented and transferred to clinical use, this novel coating could significantly improve the safety of vascular stents and reduce the risk of complications.
Schematic representation of responsive hydrogels: 4-arm polyethylene glycol (starPEG) is bound to heparin via cleavable peptide linkers and forms a hydrogel. Some of these starPEG arms can also be linked to a GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor.
The research project is being led by PD Dr. Daniel Kaiser, Head of the Experimental Neurointervention Group at the Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, and Dr. Manfred Maitz, Head of the Hemocompatibility of Biomaterials Group at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden. The project, which has its origins in MeDDrive funding, highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between neuroradiology, materials science, and biochemistry, providing key impetus for translational neurovascular research in Dresden.
Since October 2025, the research project has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).