Stoke-on-Stent!

At the Controlled Release Conference in Vienna, a mis-spelling showed CSMA to be based in Stoke-on-Stent, and it is a very relevant name!

CSMA have analysed over 300 Drug Eluting Stents (DES) for several major manufacturers, world leaders in this growing and technologically challenging sector. Coating integrity at metal interface, uniformity, thickness, hardness and drug distribution in single and dual-layer coatings are just some of the areas investigated.

We have developed a comprehensive suite of applications and techniques to aid in the development and manufacturing of DESs, and have been hailed as “The Valhalla of surface science” by one of our clients!

Imaging ToFSIMS using Bismuth ion clusters has excellent sensitivity and can detect low drug concentration at the surface. Dynamic SIMS has been used to determine and image drug distribution with depth.

CSMA have also investigated elution characteristics and drug distribution at varying stages during the elution process.

A summary of the techniques used:

• SEM / EDX
• XPS
• FT-IR
• Imaging ToFSIMS
• Dynamic SIMS
• Dynamic Contact Angle
• 3DP
• Spectral Reference Technique

These techniques can be applied to developments in other areas of both medical device and pharmaceutical developments.

For further details please contact Justine Bentley
Tel +44 1782 764269
Email justine.bentley@ceram.com