Thread by @realscientists

Since the world is watching as they try to unblock the suez canal, I thought we’ll learn some lessons from learning to unblock another very dangerous block, in the canals (or arteries) that supply blood to the heart, called atherosclerosis.

The ship that’s stuck, is like the plaque that forms in our arteries. Unlike the ship though, the plaque forms over many years, as cholesterol and other fats, random bits of dead cells and even some calcium gather and keep increasing in size until the artery is completely blocked

Bypass, what a lot of other ships are doing right now, is simply a way to go around the block and get to the destination anyway. This is done by taking a healthy unblocked artery from the leg or the arm and redirecting the blood to go through this instead.

But the most common and elegant solution is the stent, which is basically a balloon that’s inserted into where the block is, and then blown up so that it can chip away at the block. Sort of like this poor digger, but more efficient. Or maybe like the cotton swab.

Stents are now even more advanced, they can release drugs to help clear the block even more. Imagine the digger releasing many mini-diggers that will go right where the ship is stuck and dig from all different angles. These drugs can do the same over time.

But remember the stent is like a balloon? Except, it’s made of metal, and just sits there in there canal long after the ship (or the plaque) has been cleared. In the long term, leaving the stent inside slightly increases the risk of another block in the same place.

The next generation of stents are made of biodegradable polymers, and dissolve over time. They clear the arteries, and leave a path for all the traffic to keep going. There’s already immense progress in this area, and some setbacks,but is it even science if there aren’t setbacks?

Blocked vessels inside our bodies are incredibly hard issues to solve, but we’ve saved millions of lives with some pretty cool innovations. I’m pretty sure the suez canal will be unblocked by some magical engineering soon!