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A Computational Study of Mechanical Performance of Bioresorbable Polymeric Stents with Design Variations

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Abstract

Purpose

The study compared the mechanical behavior of bioresorbable polymeric stents with various designs during deployment, and investigated their fatigue performance under pulsatile blood pressure loading.

Methods

Finite element simulations have been carried out to compare the mechanical performance of four bioresorbable polymeric stents, i.e., Absorb, Elixir, Igaki-Tamai and RevaMedical, during deployment in diseased artery. Tri-folded balloon was modelled to expand the crimped stent onto the three-layered arterial wall with plaque. Cyclic diastolic-systolic pressure loading was applied to both stent and arterial wall to study fatigue behavior.

Results

Stents with larger U-bend and longer axial strut demonstrate more flexibility but suffer from severe dogboning and recoiling effects. Stress concentrations in the stent, as well as in the plaque and artery, are higher for stents designed with increased rigidity such as those with smaller U-bends and shorter axial struts. Simulations of fatigue deformation for Elixir stent demonstrate that the U-bends, with high stress concentrations, have a potential risk of fatigue failure under pulsatile systolic-diastolic blood pressure as opposed to the counter metallic stents which are normally free of fatigue failure.

Conclusion

The structural behaviour of bioresorbable polymeric stent is strongly affected by its design, in terms of expansion, dogboning, recoiling and stress distribution during the deployment process.

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Acknowledgments

LGZ acknowledge the support from the British Heart Foundation (Grant Number: FS/15/21/31424; Title: Towards controlling the mechanical performance of polymeric bioresorbable vascular scaffold during biodegradation) and the Royal Society of UK (Grant Number: IE160066; Title: Evaluating the Performance of Additively Manufactured Endovascular Scaffolds).

Conflict of interest

Authors T. Y. Qiu, L. G. Zhao and M. Song declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Fundamental Science for Advanced Machining, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

    T. Y. Qiu

  2. Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK

    L. G. Zhao

  3. School of Mechanical and Equipment Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, 056038, China

    L. G. Zhao

  4. Department of Materials, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK

    M. Song

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  1. T. Y. Qiu
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Correspondence to T. Y. Qiu.

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Associate Editor Dr. Ajit P. Yoganathan and Dr. Hwa Liang Leo oversaw the review of this article.

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Qiu, T.Y., Zhao, L.G. & Song, M. A Computational Study of Mechanical Performance of Bioresorbable Polymeric Stents with Design Variations. Cardiovasc Eng Tech 10, 46–60 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-018-00397-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-018-00397-9

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