Abstract

Drug-eluting stents were developed to counteract the severe restenosis observed after bare-metal stent implantation. The risk of restenosis still prevailed due to the inhibitory effect of the drug on endothelial healing. The current work focuses on extending a multiphysics-based modeling framework to include the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs embedded in the drugeluting stents. An additional advection-reaction-diffusion equation governing the drug transport is introduced herein. Additionally, the effect of drugs, specifically rapamycin-based ones, on the proliferation of smooth muscle cells is captured. An optimal level of drug embedment is realized through the modeling framework.