Modeling of non-Fickian diffusion and dissolution from a thin polymeric coating: An application to drug-eluting stents

Abstract

In this paper, we present a general model for non-Fickian diffusion and drug dissolution from a controlled drug delivery device coated with a thin polymeric layer. First, we study the stability and deduce an analytic solution to the problem. Then, we consider this solution and provide suitable boundary conditions to replace the problem of mass transport in the coating of a coronary drug-eluting stent. With this approach, we reduced the computational cost of performing numerical simulations in complex 3-dimensional geometries. The model for mass transport by a coronary drug-eluting stent is coupled with a non-Newtonian blood model flow. In order to show the effectiveness of the method, numerical experiments and a model validation with experimental data are also included. In particular, we investigate the influence of the non-Newtonian flow regime on the drug deposition in the arterial wall.