Surface modification of 316L stainless steel by using pulsed laser
Abstract
Coronary stent is a mechanical medical devices design to open the arteries that
have been affected by coronary artery disease (CAD). Blood vessel obstruction is the
result of atherosclerosis by the buildup of smooth muscle cells, lipid containing vacuoles,
calcification and additional cellular debris. Stent devices are introduced in clinical uses
not to remove the obstruction but to create larger lumen within the lesion to provide
smooth blood circulation. The introduction of stent to act as scaffold device to maintain
the luminal integrity of the diseased coronary artery was able to return a patient’s normal
lifestyle shortly after treatment. Despite all the advantages, in-stent restenosis caused by
vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and thrombosis caused by platelet
aggregation remain the major complications of coronary stenting, which hamper the longterm
success of the treatment. Pulsed laser surface modification approach holds great
promise in overcoming the current limitations of stent therapy. The material must be
biocompatible with the associated cells. To enhance the biocompatibility, researches have
been done such as drug coating, changing of material composition and surface
modification of the stent. Coating and changing material both had expensive
manufacturing cost, it is not economical to undeveloped country, while surface
modification is the cheapest in manufacturing cost which can also improve the stent
biocompatibility. A total of 6 specimen with different texture design are produce and after
running testing and analysis, 2 texture is selected in the end. Texture C-01 and S-01 are
selected as the most promising texture. Defect such as recast layer, micro-crack also been
reported relate to changes in input parameters.