This Biodegradable Stent Could End Repeat Procedures After Surgery
The device was developed through collaboration between liver transplant surgeon Dr Sonal Asthana (Aster CMI Hospital) and researchers led by Prof Kaushik Chatterjee
By Anubha Jain
Published : May 9, 2026 at 2:13 PM IST
|Updated : May 9, 2026 at 2:39 PM IST
A team from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a collaborating surgical group, has developed a dissolvable abdominal stent that could transform post-operative care.
Developed in response to bile duct complications following liver transplantation, the biodegradable device keeps ducts open during healing and then safely dissolves inside the body, eliminating the need for a second procedure to remove it, unlike conventional methods.
By reducing repeat interventions, lowering infection risk, patient discomfort, and easing hospital burden, the stent could offer a simpler and safer option after major abdominal surgeries.
Material and engineering innovation behind the device
Made from polydioxanone, a biodegradable polymer already used in surgical sutures, the stent supports healing during the critical post-operative window. Its design combines surface ridges, Velcro-like hooks, a flexible mid-section for misaligned duct openings, and radiopaque markers for X-ray tracking. Once implanted, it keeps the duct open for about six weeks before safely dissolving - without the need for retrieval.
The device was developed through a collaboration between liver transplant surgeon Dr Sonal Asthana (Aster CMI Hospital) and researchers led by Prof Kaushik Chatterjee, with engineering contributions from Thaseeb Rehman and Saswat Choudhary at IISc.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat's Anubha Jain, Dr Sonal Asthana and Prof Kaushik Chatterjee talked in detail about this innovation.
How the idea emerged
Speaking about the collaboration with IISc and the idea behind it, Dr Asthana said, "I often face problems that are essentially engineering challenges." He noted that despite precision in liver transplantation, bile duct complications affect nearly 25% of patients. Existing solutions usually involve placing plastic tubes or stents, which often require repeat procedures for removal or replacement.
"This was the clinical pain point that led to our collaboration with Prof Kaushik Chatterjee in 2019-20. During discussions on other work in his lab, this problem came up naturally. The idea was simple: could we create something that supports healing and then dissolves on its own?"
He added that while clinically simple, the challenge was scientifically complex and largely executed in Prof Chatterjee's lab by PhD students under his close supervision.
Prof Chatterjee noted IISc's growing focus on real-world clinical problems. "That is where our collaboration with Dr Sonal Asthana began," he said.
"We asked clinicians to bring us unmet needs. Biliary complications stood out as a clear opportunity. Our job was to engineer a solution around that. Over time, that collaboration led to the development of this prototype," Prof Chatterjee said.
Who benefits first
Dr Asthana said liver transplantation is a highly successful procedure, with success rates above 90%, but most patients present with end-stage liver failure and no bridge therapy equivalent to dialysis. Even after a successful transplant, complications can arise, particularly at the biliary anastomosis - the junction where the bile duct of the donor liver is joined to the recipient’s bile duct. Due to its delicate blood supply and technical complexity, this site is prone to leaks or strictures.
"This is a globally recognized challenge, and despite multiple approaches, there is still no durable solution," he noted.
Patients often require repeated endoscopic ERCP procedures with multiple stent exchanges. "That was the problem we set out to solve," he said. "Working with Prof Kaushik Chatterjee's team helped us clearly define what we needed in terms of material, design, and deployability."
Impact on patient outcomes
On how avoiding a second procedure changes outcomes, Dr Asthana said the impact is likely to be significant, though it will need formal trials to quantify. He noted that patients undergoing transplant already face major surgery, and repeated stent exchanges increase morbidity, cost, and hospital visits, thereby reducing overall benefit. Avoiding these repeat procedures can substantially reduce patient burden and suffering.
He emphasized that eliminating the need for a second procedure is therefore highly desirable. While medicine is inherently conservative, he added that many recent breakthroughs now come from materials engineering. "As clinicians, we may not always be aware of advances in materials science, and engineers may not fully understand clinical needs," he said. "Sustained collaboration between the two is essential for innovations like this."
Manufacturing and adoption challenges
Prof Chatterjee said the stent is not yet being manufactured at scale, and the next step is scaling up production in partnership with an Indian company. He noted that research often generates promising technologies that may not always align with real clinical needs, while clinicians are naturally cautious about adopting new solutions unless clear value is demonstrated.
"Early and continuous clinical input is therefore critical - defining the problem together and building with feedback, otherwise you risk solving the wrong problem." He added that a viable business case is essential for scaling.
Engineering challenges in design
Prof Chatterjee said the work ultimately required aligning clinical needs, engineering solutions, and commercial viability. The main challenge was striking the right balance in the stent’s properties. The material had to degrade at an optimal rate -- not too fast to lose function, and not too slow to reduce clinical value -- while remaining biocompatible and mechanically stable inside the bile duct.
Fabrication was another hurdle, as shaping the material into a tiny, thin-walled tube required combining multiple materials and techniques to achieve the desired structure and performance.
"We had to combine materials and fabrication approaches to achieve the right properties, shape, and size," he said. He added that early animal trials were crucial: what worked in the lab initially failed in vivo, but those failures provided key insights that guided successful redesigns in the next iteration.
Expanding Beyond Bile Duct Repair
When asked whether this biodegradable stent platform could be adapted beyond bile duct repair, Dr Asthana said the approach could extend beyond biliary use to areas like pancreatic surgery, ureter, and urinary bladder, where temporary stents are needed. The goal is to support healing and then safely dissolve, reducing infections and avoiding removal procedures.
Prof Chatterjee added that this reflects a broader shift toward temporary medical devices that perform their function and then disappear. Like dissolvable stitches, future stents and even fracture implants may not require removal, marking a clear direction for next-generation medical technology.
From Prototype to Clinical Translation
With the technology now licensed, the focus shifts to manufacturing, regulatory approvals, and scaling. If cleared, the stent could be deployed during surgery and produced in multiple sizes, making it especially relevant for resource-limited settings.
Regulatory evaluation will involve the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Speaking on what clinical evidence will be most critical before surgeons adopt it routinely? Dr. Asthana noted that it follows a predictable process to adopt the device.
First, the device’s physical properties are carefully established. We are using clinically approved materials, often in blends, and these must be extensively tested in the lab for safety, stability, and performance. The next step is testing in human fluids such as bile to study degradation.
Next come animal trials to assess deployment, in-body behaviour, degradation, tissue response, and safety through histopathology to rule out adverse reactions. Only after these stages do human trials begin. He emphasized that clinical adoption ultimately depends on trust - confidence that the device has been rigorously tested, follows the right regulatory pathway, and addresses a real clinical need.
Bench Performance and Readiness
Bench tests show the device can withstand over 16 newtons of pressure, indicating strong functional reliability. Responding to how significant that is in terms of safety, reliability, and readiness for human use? Prof Chatterjee said the design was guided entirely by the clinical use case. “Since it was intended for the bile duct, we first defined the minimum mechanical and load-bearing requirements,” he noted. The prototype was then evaluated under forces from multiple directions and met the required thresholds.
He added that while the work began with a biliary stent, the larger aim is to develop a platform technology. “With the materials and fabrication knowledge gained, future devices can be rapidly adapted more quickly for other parts of the body - whether they need to be more flexible, more rigid, or suited to entirely different clinical requirements.”
Dr Asthana added that material properties can be precisely tuned to the clinical need. “A stent for a blood vessel, bile duct, or a fracture plate would each require very different characteristics,” he said, underscoring how advances in materials engineering now allow such targeted design for specific clinical applications.
Collaboration, Not Proximity, Drives Medical Innovation
Dr Asthana made two key points. First, sustained public investment in R&D is essential, as venture capital alone cannot support the kind of foundational research needed for solutions relevant to Indian patients. Second, he stressed the need for stronger clinician–scientist collaborations.
While proximity in Bengaluru helped enable this partnership with Prof Kaushik Chatterjee, such collaborations should not depend on geography. He emphasized that structured institutional pathways are needed to enable consistent interaction between clinicians and researchers, adding that this is what will drive meaningful medical innovation.
With regulatory and clinical validation ahead, the innovation points to a new model of translational medicine - where engineering and surgery converge to solve unmet clinical needs.
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