RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Accelerated in vitro model for occlusion of biliary stents: investigating the role played by dietary fibre JF BMJ Innovations JO BMJ Innov FD All India Institute of Medical Sciences SP bmjinnov-2017-000209 DO 10.1136/bmjinnov-2017-000209 A1 Sachin Surwase A1 Harishankar Balakrishnan A1 Subrat K Acharya A1 Govind K Makharia A1 Guruswamy Kumaraswamy A1 Bhagavatula L V Prasad YR 2017 UL http://innovations.bmj.com/content/early/2017/11/24/bmjinnov-2017-000209.abstract AB Background To develop a new accelerated in vitro model that has implications for investigating the mechanism of biliary stent occlusion and help in the development of new materials that can alleviate this problem.Methods We employ a combination of reconstituted animal bile, bacteria and cellulose fibres optimised to reproducibly generate accelerated occlusion of stents, and produce occlusions that closely mimic those found in clinical studies.Results Our model affords repeatable, highly accelerated occlusion (within 2–3 days, compared with between about a week to 2 months in previous models). Our results highlight the role of dietary fibre in blockage of stents and demonstrate their importance in the onset of occlusion.Conclusions This accelerated model may have implications for developing biliary stents with enhanced patency.