Increased corrosion resistance of stent materials by converting current surface film of polycrystalline oxide into amorphous oxide.

Current efforts of new stent technology have been aimed largely at the improvement of intravascular stent biocompatibility. Among the chemical characteristics of metallic stents, surface oxide corrosion properties are paramount. Using our unique technique, the currently marketed 316 L stainless steel and nitinol stent wires covered with polycrystalline oxide were chemically etched and then passivated to form amorphous oxide. Excellent metallic-stent corrosion resistance with an amorphous oxide surface was demonstrated in our previous in vitro study. For in vivo validation, we compared the corrosion behavior of different oxide surfaces on various forms of test wires in the abdominal aorta of mongrel dogs using open-circuit potential and cyclic anodic polarization measurements. After conduction, the retrieved test wires were observed under scanning electron microscope. No passivity breakdown was found for wires covered with amorphous oxide, while wires with polycrystalline oxide showed breakdown at potentials between +0.2 to + 0.6 V. It has been proven that severe pitting or crevice corrosion occurred on the surface of polycrystalline oxide, while the surface of amorphous oxide was free of degradations in our experiment. We have demonstrated that this amorphous oxide coating on metallic material provides better corrosion resistance, not only in vitro but also in vivo, and it is superior not only in strength safety but also in medical device biocompatibility. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.