3D printed drug-eluting stents: Toward personalized therapy for airway stenosis
Adva Krivitsky, Nevena Paunović, Karina Klein, Fergal B. Coulter, Sarah Schleich, Agnieszka Karol, Aline Bauer, Vadim Krivitsky, Victoria Lohmann, Paula Cendoya Carril, Yinyin Bao, Brigitte von Rechenberg, Cornelia Halin, André R. Studart, Daniel Franzen, Jean‐Christophe Leroux
Abstract
Airway stents are life-saving medical devices used to treat malignant or benign central airway stenoses. Unfortunately, these devices, typically manufactured from silicone alone and/or nitinol, can result in serious complications, such as stent migration, bacterial colonization, and tissue granulation, eventually forcing stent removal. Customized airway stents exhibit reduced migration and they can be tailored to address other complications by releasing drugs, such as the antibiotic levofloxacin and the antifibrotic drug nintedanib. Herein, the incorporation of these molecules in customized, bioresorbable 3D printed airway stents was investigated. Nintedanib (1.5 wt%) and levofloxacin (2.0 wt%) were incorporated in the polymer-based resin, which was used to 3D print tracheal stents with adequate mechanical and drug release properties. The drug-loaded stents were then deployed into rabbit tracheas and found to deliver the drugs locally with minimal systemic exposure. Drug activities were demonstrated by inhibition of bacterial colonization and reduced interleukin 8 (IL8) local expression. Although the application of these tracheal stents requires further exploration in larger animal models, this work paves the way for the rapid manufacturing of personalized medical devices with therapeutic functions. Personalized tracheal stents were printed from a resin containing photopolymerisable polymers and the antibiotic levofloxacin, or the antifibrotic drug nintedanib. The materials were characterized for their mechanical properties and the corresponding stents were inserted in white New-Zealand rabbits, where they locally released the drugs. This work may contribute to the development of personalized 3D printed medical devices with therapeutic functions. • Drug-eluting personalized stents were 3D printed by digital light processing. • Stents loaded with drugs displayed good mechanical properties. • Drugs were released from the stents in a slow and controlled fashion. • Drug-loaded stents delivered the drugs locally with minimal systemic exposure. • Levofloxacin-eluting stents displayed antibacterial activity.