Computational analysis of the effects of geometric irregularities on the interaction of an additively manufactured 316L stainless steel stent and a coronary artery.

Customized additively manufactured (laser powder bed fused (L-PBF)) stents could improve the treatment of complex lesions by enhancing stent-artery conformity. However, geometric irregularities inherent for L-PBF stents are expected to influence not only their mechanical behavior but also their interaction with the artery. In this study, the influence of geometrical irregularities on stent-artery interaction is evaluated within a numerical framework.

Computational analysis of the effects of geometric irregularities and post-processing steps on the mechanical behavior of additively manufactured 316L stainless steel stents.

Advances in additive manufacturing enable the production of tailored lattice structures and thus, in principle, coronary stents. This study investigates the effects of process-related irregularities, heat and surface treatment on the morphology, mechanical response, and expansion behavior of 316L stainless steel stents produced by laser powder bed fusion and provides a methodological approach for their numerical evaluation. A combined experimental and computational framework is used, based on both actual and computationally reconstructed laser powder bed fused stents.

Experimentally validated simulation of coronary stents considering different dogboning ratios and asymmetric stent positioning.

In-stent restenosis remains a major problem of arteriosclerosis treatment by stenting. Expansion-optimized stents could reduce this problem. With numerical simulations, stent designs/ expansion behaviours can be effectively analyzed.