Takami Kowalski, Warren Robison, Anton Bowden, and Brian Jensen, Brigham Young University
Engineering
Using a coronary stent to expand a blocked blood vessel as a way to treat coronary heart disease has proved effective in the past. However, there are risks, such as thrombosis, that are a natural side effect of inserting a foreign object into the body. Creating a stent out of a hemocompatible material such as carbon-infiltrated carbon nanotubes could potentially resolve these issues and also make unnecessary treatments such as dual antiplatelet therapy as a way of decreasing the risk of adverse side effects. Previous research done in this lab has shown that carbon-infiltrated carbon nanotubes can be grown in a pattern defined by photolithography on a planar surface. The present work demonstrates preliminary results from patterning a flat, flexible substrate and rolling it into a cylindrical shape before growing carbon-infiltrated carbon nanotubes as a way to fabricate cylindrical stents, fulfilling all necessary specifications for a stent with the added benefit of hemocompatibility. We also demonstrate growth on curved substrates and explore process parameters for achieving good-quality CNT forests.