VICTORIAN cardiologists have embraced technology, using a dissolvable metallic stent in heart surgery.
A team at St Vincent's Hospital and University of Melbourne recently performed the first operation in the state using new stents made from biocompatible magnesium metal.
Only four of these stents have been inserted nationwide.
The magnesium stent is designed to reduce complications for a common cardiac procedure.
Over time, it dissolves and is reabsorbed as an inert substance like the magnesium nutrients already in the body.
Professor Peter Barlis helped lead the team that performed the surgery.
He said this new type of stent reduces the risk of inflammation and scar tissue that can block the artery again.
By the time the stent dissolves, the artery should be fully healed and remain open.
"The magnesium stent is attractive because it affords us increased strength over the polymer stents and dissolves in just 12-18 months rather than three years or more," Professor Barlis said.
He is currently working with the university to develop new stent technology that can be 3D printed to a patient's exact specifications.
"Our vision is to improve these devices by making them thinner, which may mean looking at other materials or potentially using nanotechnology to use stents as platforms to release drugs over time to where they are most needed - in the artery."