Recent Research on Medical Stent Manufacturing Based on 3D Printing Technology

Background: With the increasing number of patients with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, medical stents are needed to reshape the blood vessels and trachea to restore their function. Due to its high degree of standardization, the existing medical stent manufacturing technology is mature and suitable for most groups. However, conventional medical stents are not suitable for every patient due to the patients’ individual differences and other reasons. Hence, patients need custom medical stents. Therefore, 3D printing technology with high customization function as an emerging stent manufacturing method has attracted much attention in recent years. Objective: By solving the problem of poor matching rates between traditional medical stents and human body channels, 3D printing technology will continue to develop in the medical stent manufacturing field. Methods: This study traces the representative patents related to the vascular stent and tracheal stent manufacturing based on 3D printing technology. Results: Through the analysis of numerous patents about 3D printed vascular stents and tracheal stents, the reasons for the mismatched medical stent specifications and low efficiency are summarized. The challenges in the development of 3D printing medical stents are discussed. Conclusion: Research on the 3D printing of medical stents is conducive to improving patients’ suitability and medical stent implantation and reducing the time cost. More patents will be invented in the future.