Abstract
Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS), made either from polymers or from metals, are promising materials for treating coronary artery disease through the processes of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Despite the opinion that bioresorbable polymers are more promising for coronary stents, their long-term advantages over metallic alloys have not yet been demonstrated. The development of new polymer-based BVS or optimization of the existing ones requires engineers to perform many very expensive mechanical tests to identify optimal structural geometry and material characteristics. in silico mechanical testing opens the possibility for a fast and low-cost process of analysis of all the mechanical characteristics and also provides the possibility to compare two or more competing designs. In this study, we used a recently introduced material model of poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) fully bioresorbable vascular scaffold and recently empowered numerical InSilc platform to perform in silico mechanicals tests of two different stent designs with different material and geometrical characteristics. The result of inflation, radial compression, three-point bending, and two-plate crush tests shows that numerical procedures with true experimental constitutive relationships could provide reliable conclusions and a significant contribution to the optimization and design of bioresorbable polymer-based stents.
Highlights
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a serious condition caused by the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries
Characteristics of stent designs were analyzed through four standard and general in silico tests including radial compression (RCI), inflation, crush resistance, and three-point bending
We presented the abilities of the in silico platform for mechanical testing of stents by comparing and analyzing two different polymeric bioresorbable stent designs, namely, AB– Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) and Renuvia–poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA), with respect to different geometrical characteristics
Summary
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a serious condition caused by the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries. It affects millions of people around the world and is one of the leading causes of death globally. CAD can be treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), which is a minimally invasive method that has revolutionized the treatment of CAD in the last 20 years [1]. PTCA procedure, called percutaneous coronary intervention, opens blocked, or stenosed coronary arteries allowing unobstructed blood flow to the heart tissue [2]. A balloon catheter is inserted into the radial or femoral artery along with a stent steered to the point of interest, Application of in silico Platform and dilated to compress the atherosclerotic plaque against the arterial wall. Despite the high clinical success and a relatively low complication risk, PTCA is not an ideal method and has certain limitations such as potential inflammation, late-stent thrombosis, neoatherosclerosis, and restenosis [4,5,6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
