NANYANG INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH & MEDICINE
Ph. D Project Proposal for IGS @ NITHM
Programme:
Sensing and Diagnostics
Systems Biology and Medicine
(Select one only)
Therapeutic Medical Devices
Medical Imaging and Signal Analysis
X Nanomedicine
Chemical Biology
Tissue Engineering
Is the project related
to (tick all relevant boxes) :
Project Topic:
Skin Research
Health Systems Complexity
x Ageing Research
Cognition
Biodegradable scaffold with nano-materials for treating heart
disease
Supervisor:
Prof. Subbu Venkatraman
School:
Materials Science and Engineering
Co-Supervisor:
Prof. Swee Hin Teoh
School:
Chemical Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Huang Yingying
Institution:
Materials Science and Engineering
A/ Prof. Philip Wong & Dr. Nicolas Foin
Institution:
National Heart Centre, Singapore
2
nd
Co-Supervisor:
(if any)
Clinician Collaborator:
(if any)
Is research funding available for the project?
X Yes
No
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
Present scope of the project that the student will address
Nano-composite technology has been previously successfully used in NTU for development of a structural
heart biodegradable implant. The aim of this project is to develop biodegradable stent using similar nano-filler
technology to achieve radio-opacity, acute mechanical results and as well as long-term results comparable to
metal stents.
During the course of this project, the student will interact with both engineers and interventional cardiologists
and student will acquire an extensive experience in biomaterials, clinical/cardiology terminology as well as
medical device development and testing requirements.
The project will involve in particular:
1. Learn nano-composite polymer material manufacturing
2. Understand clinical and medtech terminology
3. Design and prototype samples and characterise their mechanical response
4. In-vitro bench testing
5. Biocompatibility and in-vivo pre-clinical experimentation
The development part of the project will be mainly carried out in the Materials Science and Engineering lab of
NTU and student will have an attachment with be the cardiology research unit of the National Heart Centre
Singapore.
Aug 2014 Intake
STATAMENT OF NEED
Describe medical problem that the project will attempt to address
Cardiovascular disease (Heart disease and stroke) is the largest cause of mortality in Singapore, accounting for
over 30 % of all causes of deaths. Each year, over 5000 people die from heart and cerebrovascular disease and
treatment of heart diseases is one of the main priority and healthcare government expenditure. To unblock
patient diseased heart vessels, cardiologists often place in the diseased artery a stent prosthesis which is used to
reopen and restore flow in the vessel.
At the National Heart Centre Singapore, we are performing about 2300 Percutaneous Coronary Interventions
(PCI) each year, implanting over 4000 stents annually.
One of the limitations of current metal based stents is that they remain permanently in the vessel, which can
affects normal physiology, prevent future surgery and can led to sudden re-occlusion of the vessel (thrombosis),
a rare but potential lethal complication which can occur even several years after the procedure.
To solve this, stent scaffolds based on biodegradable polymer have recently emerged and PLA-based fully
bioabsorbables stents are nowadays commercially available. Still, initial clinical experiences with the currently
available biodegradable stents are showing some important limitations, caused by the lesser mechanical
resistance of polymer material as compared with metal.
There is clearly an unmet need for a biodegradable platform achieving radio-opacity, acute mechanical results
and long-term results comparable to metal stents.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Describe proposed solution to the medical problem
Nano-filler technology has been previously used successfully in NTU-MSE for development of a structural
heart biodegradable implant. The aim of this project is to use nano-filler technology to develop biodegradable
stent achieving radio-opacity, acute mechanical results and as well as long-term results comparable to metal
based stents.
The advantages of using such an approach are :
i) Reinforcement of the polymer strength (through nano- fillers)
ii) Increase of the visibility of the scaffold by incorporating radio-opaque fillers
iii) Improvement of deliverability through reduction of the delivery profile
iv) Reduced neointimal thickening and late loss by using thinner strut thickness
Biodegradable implants are generally preferred by patients and clinicians over permanent metal prosthesis.
Biodegradable stents with nano-composite fillers have obvious benefits as they could be used to treat vessel
with the same approach as with metal based stent, solving the main current limitations of current
biodegradables scaffold while still disappearing within 24 to 36 months.
Complex patients with diffuse diseases represent a real challenge for treatment by PCI as complications rates
increase with the number of stents implanted. Re-interventions in metallic stent represent another as in cases of
re-occlusion of a metallic stent, the only solution available is generally to get another metal stent overlapping
the existing implant, which can lead to complications.
A Biodegradable stent with nano-composite filler has the potential to widen the application of biodegradable
scaffolds and extend their use and availability in clinical practice.
Aug 2014 Intake