Development and Future Trends of Protective Strategies for Magnesium Alloy Vascular Stents

Magnesium alloy stents have been extensively studied in the field of biodegradable metal stents due to their exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability and excellent biomechanical properties. Nevertheless, the specific in vivo service environment causes magnesium alloy stents to degrade rapidly and fail to provide sufficient support for a certain time. Compared to previous reviews, this paper focuses on presenting an overview of the development history, the key issues, mechanistic analysis, traditional protection strategies and new directions and protection strategies for magnesium alloy stents. Alloying, optimizing stent design and preparing coatings have improved the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy stents. Based on the corrosion mechanism of magnesium alloy stents, as well as their deformation during use and environmental characteristics, we present some novel strategies aimed at reducing the degradation rate of magnesium alloys and enhancing the comprehensive performance of magnesium alloy stents. These strategies include adapting coatings for the deformation of the stents, preparing rapid endothelialization coatings to enhance the service environment of the stents, and constructing coatings with self-healing functions. It is hoped that this review can help readers understand the development of magnesium alloy cardiovascular stents and solve the problems related to magnesium alloy stents in clinical applications at the early implantation stage.