Processing Aspects of Magnesium Alloy Stent Tube

Biomedical applications are an emerging field of interest for magnesium technology, envisioning biodegradable implants that resorb in the human body after having cured a particular medical condition (such as artery clogging or bone fractures). This challenges research in a sense that the materials to be used need to dissolve in vivo in a controlled fashion without leaving harmful remainders and while maintaining sufficient strength and other (mechanical) attributes as long as necessary.To comply to the requirements, magnesium alloys as well as their processing routes into implants need to be tailored. While new alloy compositions are receiving ample attention, the paper at hand addresses the processing issue. The application of choice is the (cardio)-vascular stent. Different steps in manufacturing magnesium AZ-alloy stent tube are considered, including equal channel angular pressing, extrusion and subsequent drawing operations. Results show that the processing route has an important influence on the micro structure of the finished stent tube and hence on its functional performance.