A small, tubular medical device inserted into a blood vessel, duct, or other tubular structure to keep it open and maintain adequate flow. Coronary stents are commonly used to treat blocked arteries, while ureteral stents help maintain urine flow from the kidney to the bladder.
Named after Charles Stent, a 19th-century English dentist who developed a dental impression compound. The medical device adopted his name because early versions were made from similar materials and served a similar supportive function.
Modern drug-eluting stents are coated with medications that slowly release over months to prevent the artery from re-narrowing - they're like tiny pharmacies that deliver medicine directly to the vessel wall. A single stent, thinner than a human hair when collapsed, can save someone's life by reopening a completely blocked heart artery!
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