Surface Coating of Drug-coated Balloons
Surface Coating of Drug-coated Balloons – Ultrasonic Coating – Cheersonic
In the field of vascular interventional treatment, drug-coated balloons achieve precise intervention in vascular restenosis through special surface coating design. The core principle is to evenly coat the balloon surface with a drug carrier that inhibits excessive proliferation of endothelial cells. When the balloon expands, the drug fully contacts and penetrates the vascular endothelium at the lesion site, and inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation from the initial stage of vascular injury, thereby blocking the pathological process of restenosis. Compared with drug-eluting stents, this technology does not require the placement of metal stents in blood vessels, significantly reducing the risk of thrombosis and inflammatory reactions caused by foreign bodies, while avoiding vascular endothelialization disorders caused by long-term drug release, and optimizing the safety of treatment from a mechanism perspective.
Multiple application scenarios in coronary artery disease
Drug-coated balloons have shown clear clinical value in the treatment of coronary artery lesions, especially in the treatment of in-stent restenosis. Clinical practice has confirmed that this technology can effectively deal with the luminal stenosis caused by neointimal hyperplasia in the stent, providing an implant-free solution for secondary interventional treatment. For primary lesions of small coronary vessels, its characteristic of avoiding metal implantation can reduce chronic damage to the vascular endothelium and improve long-term patency. In the treatment of bifurcation lesions, drug-coated balloons can effectively reduce mechanical stress damage at the bifurcation ridge through uniform drug distribution and the advantages of no metal accumulation, and reduce the risk of restenosis caused by uneven local drug concentration, becoming an important choice for optimizing the treatment effect of bifurcation lesions. In addition, this technology has also gradually expanded its application in complex cases such as primary lesions of large coronary vessels and chronic total occlusion lesions (CTO), showing a wide range of adaptation potential.
Application status and controversy of peripheral arterial disease
In the treatment of peripheral arterial disease, drug-coated balloons are mainly suitable for patients with intermittent claudication who seriously affect their function or quality of life and are ineffective with drug and exercise therapy. When the benefit-risk ratio is evaluated as positive, intravascular interventional therapy can be used as a preferred option, and relevant guidelines recommend its inclusion in the standard treatment system for femoropopliteal artery lesions. However, in the application of below-the-knee atherosclerotic lesions, there are currently divergent clinical evidences, and its long-term efficacy and safety still need more high-quality research verification, which has also become an important research direction in this field.
Technology iteration: innovative breakthroughs in the second-generation drug-coated balloons
With the progress of materials science and interventional device engineering, the second-generation drug-coated balloons have achieved key upgrades in structural design. Constrained products integrate the drug coating with the balloon expansion constraint structure to achieve uniform and controllable lumen expansion during the filling process, significantly reduce mechanical damage and strain concentration of the vascular wall, and ensure the precise release of drugs at the lesion site. The scored balloon optimizes the surface microstructure to enhance the pretreatment effect on vascular lesions and improve the contact efficiency between the drug coating and the vascular wall. Clinical data show that compared with the first-generation products, the new generation of technology has shown significant advantages in reducing vascular elastic retraction and prolonging lumen patency time, which has promoted the development of interventional treatment towards more precision.
Core process analysis of coating preparation technology
In the field of balloon coating preparation, advanced ultrasonic spraying systems play a key role. This type of equipment can spray balloon catheters up to 300 mm in length uniformly in all directions through a precise rotation positioning device. Its working principle is based on dynamic rotation and ultrasonic atomization technology: first, the balloon is pre-inflated and shaped, and the catheter is driven to rotate 360 degrees by a high-precision motor. At the same time, ultrasonic vibration is used to atomize the coating solution containing drugs and plasticizers to form micron-sized particles and evenly deposit them on the balloon surface. Compared with the traditional dip coating method, this process has multiple advantages: it can not only achieve high uniformity of drug coating and ensure balanced drug release in the lesion site, but also improve drug utilization efficiency by precisely controlling the spraying area (such as targeted stripe coating) and significantly reduce material consumption. In addition, the introduction of plasticizers in the coating formula enhances the flexibility of the film, avoids the common cracking or peeling problems of traditional coatings, and ensures the stable release performance of drugs in blood vessels.
Summary and Outlook
Drug-coated balloon technology has built an integrated solution of “intervention-drug sustained release-biorepair” in vascular interventional treatment through the collaborative innovation of drug release mechanism and device design. The expansion of applications from coronary arteries to peripheral blood vessels, as well as the performance improvement of the second-generation products, indicate that the technology is advancing from single lesion treatment to complex case management. In the future, with the continuous optimization of the biocompatibility of coating materials, the development of intelligent responsive drug carriers, and the precise matching with vascular imaging technology, drug-coated balloons are expected to achieve breakthrough applications in more vascular disease fields, bringing new development opportunities for minimally invasive interventional treatment.
About Cheersonic
Cheersonic is the leading developer and manufacturer of ultrasonic coating systems for applying precise, thin film coatings to protect, strengthen or smooth surfaces on parts and components for the microelectronics/electronics, alternative energy, medical and industrial markets, including specialized glass applications in construction and automotive.
Our coating solutions are environmentally-friendly, efficient and highly reliable, and enable dramatic reductions in overspray, savings in raw material, water and energy usage and provide improved process repeatability, transfer efficiency, high uniformity and reduced emissions.
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