[Numerical and experimental study of radial support capacity of intravascular stent]

The radial support capacity of intravascular stent is usually evaluated by the planar compression or the radial compression methods. Based on FEM simulation, the planer and radial compression methods are compared, and the agreement of the evaluation for the radial support capacity between these two methods is found. Moreover, the planer compression method is used to study the geometric parameters' effect on the radial support capacity by numerical simulations and experiments. Results show that, at the beginning of the compression process, the radial support capacity is mainly influenced by the metal-to-artery surface ratio; at large compression rate, the radial support capacity will decrease sharply with the increment of post-expansion diameter and decrement of the thickness and metal-to-artery surface ratio. The results provide guidance to the design and test of stents.