A novel vascular stent and insert concept to improve hemodynamics and support vascular health

Obstruction of vessels is one of the most common health issues in the world and various methods of treatments have been offered, including medication therapy, stenting, and bypass surgery. However, recurrence of blockage is a major issue facing patients. The present work assesses the performance of a new innovative design of stents featuring two spirals, called 'inserts', which will create a rotating flow inside the vessel. Three different cases of artery and bypass configurations were studied and the results showed that the stent and inserts increased the axial and secondary velocity significantly. At a plane located 1 mm after anastomosis and at t = 0.25 s, the axial velocity was 23% higher for a case with stent and insert compared to the baseline configuration i.e., without stent/insert. In addition, it was found that the presence of the insert increases the wall shear stress (WSS). The maximum WSS among the three cases reached 113 Pa, which was 94% higher than the baseline case. The findings highlight the potential of the proposed stent/insert design in improving the hemodynamic parameters in the graft, anastomosis region, and the host artery, which in turn, could enhance the patency and longevity of the bypass graft.