Bare Metal Stent (expanded) on delivery system and H&E and tissue elastin (Verhoeff’s) stain of porcine stented coronary artery demonstrating neointimal proliferation response

Increasingly, mechanical interventions are being used to deal with a range of cardiovascular vascular diseases, including atherosclerotic vascular disease and valvular defects. Unfortunately, the intervention themselves are beset by an accelerated atherosclerosis and may themselves experience altered function. We are using polymer-based drug delivery systems, image analysis, computational modelling, machine learning, mechanical fatigue and simulated use testing, molecular and cell biology, and histo- and immunochemistry to more fully appreciate the role of locally expressed growth mediators and hemodynamic alterations in the pathobiology of the blood vessel wall. These studies have enabled us to characterize the tissue response to implanted devices such as endovascular stents and other percutaneous devices and to determine how design influences biology.