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Catheter-based stenting has evolved since its early, bare-metal introduction. In the twenty-first century, drug-eluting stents were introduced to reduce restenosis and the reinterventions associated with initial bare-metal stents. Unlike their ancestors, the polymer-coated drug-eluting devices contained antiproliferative agents to avoid neointimal hyperplasia, decreasing restenosis rates considerably. The development of advanced materials, which could be absorbed into the body after use, has resulted in bioabsorbable stents. Over the past few years, major medical device manufacturers have invested heavily in developing bioabsorbable stents.

Some manufacturers are on track to win clearance for its fully absorbable stent, which has already been approved in the European Union. It is made out of a poly-l-lactide acid biopolymer with an everolimus coating. It is developed to be reabsorbed over a matter of months after it's inserted with an advanced catheter-based delivery system. Apart from deploying stents, catheters are the driving force in several newly developed procedures to repair the peripheral vasculature. Catheters have been at the center of other heart treatments too. Besides shaping the heart, catheters are helping surgeons add to it with micro-sized valve replacements. Through catheter use, surgeons can guide expanding replacement valves into place in patients too sick to undergo open surgery.