Expansion Performance of Novel Balloon-Expandable Stent for Tapered Vessel

Abstract

In-stent restenosis still remains an obsession to cardiologist, especially in tapered vessels. In this paper, we designed a novel balloon-expandable stent for tapered vessel and proposed a finite element method (FEM) to study the expansion of the novel stent. The effect of stent design parameters on stent tapering and foreshortening were also researched. Results show that the radial displacement of stent proximal end was always larger than that of stent distal end during stent expansion, and the stent had a tapered shape as a whole after expansion. The degree of stent tapering observed increased with the expansion pressure increase. Besides, increasing the gradient of ring amplitude not only could increase the tapering degree of stent after expansion, but also could decrease stent foreshortening, improving the positioning accuracy after stent implantation. In conclusion, FEM can quantify expansion performance of novel balloon-expandable stents and help designers to devise and assess new stent designs for tapered vessel.