Heart saver that clears arteries then dissolves (UK)

"A heart patient has become the first in London to be fitted with a device that opens up a blocked artery and then disappears. Medics at King's College Hospital fitted the 67-year-old typesetter from Kent with bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS). They are being hailed as a big step forward in the battle against coronary heart disease. Previously, patients would have been fitted with a metal stent, which opens up the clogged artery, allowing oxygen-rich blood to pass through. But the stent remains in the body and this can lead to complications because it is pressing on the vessel. A BVS does the same job — but it dissolves slowly after the vessel has healed and no longer needs support. It is made of polyactide, a material used in implants such as dissolvable sutures for wounds."