Study of Non-Linear Deformation of Peripheral Stent Mechanics Using Com- putational Approach

Stent implants, specifically those implanted in Superficial Femoral Artery (SFA) in the lower limbs, are prone to high failure rates. The failures can occur due to abnormal behavior of the blood flow, mechanical forces from the arterial wall imposed on the stent, as well as leg movements such as bending, torsion, compression, and elongation that can create dynamic arterial environment imposed on the stent. In order to prevent high failure rates of peripheral stents there is a need to understand the unique biomechanical environment and the characteristics of the SFA arterial segment where stent is implanted. This study presents several steps that need to be taken into consideration before the complex and combined stent-artery-environment model can be created and analyzed. Results show finite element computational approach that demonstrates stent characteristics upon insertion inside the artery, creation of arterial segment with geometry and characteristics from real patient data, and theoretical approach to accurately impose blood flow onto the artery-stent model. This study recommends procedure for analyzing biomechanical environment of the stent-artery system using real artery geometry. Results show that stent design and artery specific geometry play a critical role in stent performance.