bare-metal stent bare-metal stent a bare-metal stent is a stent made of thin, uncoated (bare) metal wire that has been formed into a mesh-like tube. the first stents licensed for use in cardiac arteries were bare metal – often 316l stainless steel. more recent "second generation" bare-metal stents have been made of cobalt chromium alloy. while plastic stents were first used to treat gastrointestinal conditions of the esophagus, gastroduodenum, biliary ducts, and colon, bare-metal stent advancements led to their use for these conditions starting in the 1990s. bare-metal stenta bare-metal stent diagonally from the fronticd-9-cm00.63, 36.06, 39.90 drug-eluting stents are often preferred over bare-metal stents because the latter carry a higher risk of restenosis, the growth of tissue into the stent resulting in vessel narrowing. examples stainless steel: r stent (orbusneich), genous bio-engineered r stent (orbusneich), (j&j, cordis) bxvelocity, (medtronic) express2, matrix stent (sahajanand medical technologies) cobalt-chromium alloy: vision (abbott vascular); mp35n driver stent (medtronic) platinum chromium alloy: omega bms (boston scientific)