Balloon-Expandable Stent

Julio Palmaz, USA, patent 4,733,665 of 1988. The mesh scaffold that props arteries open for life.

Overview

Palmaz, an Argentine radiologist, hand-etched his wire-mesh tube and partnered with cardiologist Richard Schatz; Johnson and Johnson licensed patent 4,733,665 and launched the Palmaz-Schatz stent in 1990. Angioplasty restenosis rates fell dramatically, and stenting became one of medicine's most performed procedures. Years of infringement litigation followed copyists. Drug-eluting generations added coatings from 2003. Millions of hearts stay open on his scaffold's descendants.