China’s Self-developed Heart Stent Wins Worldwide Recognition
A Chinese-made heart stent has won recognition from the international medical community, with clinical trial results published online in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.
Named Firehawk, the drug-eluting stent was developed by MicroPort Scientific Corporation, a Chinese healthcare company, to treat patients with coronary artery disease.
The metal stent is 86 microns thick, which is roughly the diameter of a human hair. It contains drugs in micro grooves engraved by lasers on the surface, which prevents the drug from leaking during the transportation of the stent.
Clinical trials were conducted in 21 hospitals in 10 European countries from December 2015 to October 2016. Altogether 1,653 patients from the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Austria, and Denmark were implanted with the stent.
According to William Wijns, a professor from the National University of Ireland Galway who led the clinical study, this is the first time that China’s medical device went through randomized clinical trials in Europe on such a scale.
Results showed that the safety and clinical efficacy of this stent could rival the Xience stent, one of the world’s leading drug-eluting stents.
In addition, its unique design could save drug dosages and help prevent side effects such as thrombus after implantation.
中国自主研发的心脏支架赢得了全世界的认可
一种中国制造的心脏支架获得了国际医学界的认可，其临床试验结果发表在医学杂志《柳叶刀》的网站上。
这种药物洗脱支架被命名为Firehawk，由中国医疗保健公司MicroPort Scientific Corporation开发，用于治疗冠心病患者。
这个金属支架有86微米厚，大概是人类头发的直径。它包含药物在表面激光雕刻的微槽中，防止药物在运送支架时泄漏。
2015年12月至2016年10月在10个欧洲国家的21家医院进行临床试验。共有1653名来自英国、法国、西班牙、意大利、比利时、荷兰、波兰、德国、奥地利和丹麦的患者植入了这种支架。
领导临床研究的爱尔兰戈尔韦国立大学教授威廉·魏恩斯表示，这是中国医疗设备首次在欧洲进行如此规模的随机临床试验。
结果表明，该支架的安全性和临床疗效可以与世界上的药物洗脱支架之一的先思支架相媲美。
此外，其独特的设计可以节省药物剂量，并有助于防止植入后血栓等副作用。
