Thanks to the popularity of Viagra and other related drugs, most of us are no strangers to Erectile Dysfunction or the medications designed to restore healthy erections to the men who suffer from the condition. For some men, however, Viagra and related drugs only work in about half the patients that take them, according to Dr. Martin Sanda, director of the prostate cancer center at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston. And for the men for whom the pills do work, they don't produce the desired effect. In the hopes of creating an alternative to medications, medical technology company Medtronic is testing a new stent that would be surgically implanted in the penis to correct ED by improving blood flow.

The stent would not only offer a solution for men for whom other therapies have failed, it could also be a preferable alternative to drugs. According to Dr. Ajay Nehra, a professor of urology at the Mayo clinic, “Men would ideally like to have natural, spontaneous erections and that's why the medical device is trying to look at alternative options than pills Since ED often is a symptom of larger problems, such as blockage of the arteries, the stent could help treat these other conditions, potentially preventing heart attacks or strokes in men who might be at risk. Some doctors are saying that the procedure would be most helpful to men who have sustained injuries which have resulted in erectile dysfunction. “I would foresee this stent as an application for younger individuals who have had traumatic injuries that decrease arterial flow,” said Dr. Jerome Richie, the chief of urology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. While the stent's future is in the air, many doctors are hopeful that it will offer many men a great alternative to pills.