Abstract
Dynamic finite-element simulations have been carried out to study the effects of cell design, material choice and drug eluting coating on the mechanical behaviour of stents during deployment. Four representative stent designs have been considered, i.e., Palmaz-Schatz, Cypher, Xience and Endeavor. The former two are made of stainless steel while the latter two made of Co-Cr alloy. Geometric model for each design was created using ProEngineer software, and then imported into Abaqus for simulation of the full process of stent deployment within a diseased artery. In all cases, the delivery system was based on the dynamic expansion of a polyurethane balloon under applied internal pressure. Results showed that the expansion is mainly governed by the design, in particular open-cell design (e. g. Endeavor) tends to have greater expansion than closed-cell design (e. g. Cypher). Dogboning effect was strong for slotted tube design (e. g. Palmaz-Schatz) but reduced significantly for sinusoidal design (e. g. Cypher). Under the same pressure, the maximum von Mises stress in the stent was higher for the open-cell designs and located mostly at the inner corners of each cell. For given deformation, stents made of Co-Cr alloys tend to experience higher stress level than those made of stainless steels, mainly due to the difference in material properties. For artery-plaque system, the maximum stress occurred on the stenosis and dogboning led to stress concentration at the ends of the plaque. The drug eluting coating affected the stent expansion by reducing the recoiling phenomenon considerably, but also raised the stress level on the stent due to property mismatch.