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A novel wavy non-uniform ligament chiral stent with J-shaped stress–strain behavior to mimic the native trachea

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Abstract

Tracheal stents are an important form of treatment for benign or malignant central airway obstruction. However, the mechanical behavior of current tracheal stents is significantly different from that of the native trachea, which leads to a variety of serious complications. In this study, inspired by the structure of the native trachea, a wavy non-uniform ligament chiral tracheal stent is proposed, in which J-shaped stress–strain behavior and negative Poisson's ratio response are achieved by replacing the tangential ligament of tetrachiral and anti-tetrachiral hybrid structure with a wavy non-uniform ligament. Through the combination of theoretical analysis, finite element analysis and experimental tests, a wide range of desired J-shaped stress–strain curves are explored to mimic the native porcine trachea by tailoring the stent geometry. Besides, the negative Poisson’s ratio and auxetic diameter curves versus axial strain of the stent are also studied in detail, thus contributing to the enhancement of cross-section ventilation and reducing the migration of the stent. This novel tracheal stent with a unique microstructure shows a potential to perfectly match the physiological activities of the native trachea and thereby reduce potential complications.

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Acknowledgements

This article was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2020YFC1107103), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51821093), and the Research Project of Public Welfare Technology Application of Zhejiang Province, China (No. LGF21H010006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Jiapeng Liu, Xinhua Yao, Zhenwei Wang, Congcong Luan, Jianzhong Fu & Yong He

  2. Key Laboratory of 3D Printing Process and Equipment of Zhejiang Province, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Jiapeng Liu, Xinhua Yao, Zhenwei Wang, Congcong Luan, Jianzhong Fu & Yong He

  3. Department of Pneumology, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310006, China

    Jian Ye

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  1. Jiapeng Liu
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  2. Xinhua Yao
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  4. Jian Ye
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Contributions

JPL contributed to conceptualization, formal analysis, data curation, investigation, methodology, visualization and writing—original draft; XHY and JY contributed to conceptualization, supervision, validation, and writing—review & editing; ZWW and CCL helped in formal analysis and methodology; JZF and YH helped in resources, supervision, validation and project administration.

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Correspondence to Xinhua Yao or Jian Ye.

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

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Liu, J., Yao, X., Wang, Z. et al. A novel wavy non-uniform ligament chiral stent with J-shaped stress–strain behavior to mimic the native trachea. Bio-des. Manuf. 4, 851–866 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42242-021-00159-y

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