ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States and Europe, accounting for approximately half of all deaths [1,2]. The most common form of cardiovascular disease is atherosclerosis, which is commonly treated using balloon angioplasty usually in conjunction with the deployment of a stent. Stent deployment helps to hold the vessel open following the local injury caused by balloon inflation and prevents elastic recoil. Stenting has been shown to significantly reduce restenosis rates from approximately 20% to 50% without a stent to about 10%–30% with stent deployment [3]. However, this still leaves significant room for improvement.
