[1][2] In medicine, a stent is any device which is inserted into a blood vessel or other anatomical internal duct to expand it to prevent or alleviate a blockage.

Traditionally, such devices are fabricated from metal mesh and remain in the body permanently or until removed through further surgical intervention.

These include a predisposition to late stent thrombosis, prevention of late vessel adaptive or expansive remodeling, hindrance of surgical revascularization, and impairment of imaging with multislice CT.[4][5] To overcome some of these potential drawbacks, several companies are pursuing the development of bioresorbable scaffolds or bioabsorbable stents.

[6][7][8] Therefore, the goal of a bioresorbable or "temporary" stent is to fully support the vessel during this critical period, and then resorb from the body when it is no longer needed.

Clinical results suggest that magnesium-based scaffolds may be a viable option in avoiding the drawbacks of permanent stents.

[21] Zinc shows desirable physiological corrosion behavior, meeting a benchmark penetration rate of 20 micrometers per year.

These are based on poly(L-lactide) (PLLA), chosen because it is able to maintain a radially strong scaffold that breaks down over time into lactic acid, a naturally occurring molecule that the body can use for metabolism.

[24] An example of a naturally dissolving stent is the 'Absorb' stent 'produced by Abbott[25] that has several design components and features: base scaffold: a poly(L-lactide) polymer similar to that in dissolvable stitches is shaped into a tube made up of zigzag hoops linked together by bridges; drug-eluting layer': a mixture of poly-D, L-lactide (PDLLA) and everolimus; 'markers': a pair of radio-opaque platinum markers at the ends that allow the device to be visualized during angiography; 'delivery system': a balloon delivery system.

Early and late major adverse cardiac events, revascularizations, and scaffold thromboses have been uncommon and similar to the Xience DES, a market leader in the drug eluting stent category.