Self-Expanding Cardiovascular Stents: Potentials and Challenges of Shape Memory Biomaterials

Cardiovascular diseases affect a large portion of the global population and remain leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Endovascular stenting, a minimally invasive procedure, enables the insertion and deployment of stents to restore arterial patency without open surgery. While balloon-expandable stents are widely used in clinical practice, shape memory biomaterials offer an alternative through self-expansion driven by their unique properties. Shape memory materials, available as alloys or polymers, rely on temperature-induced transformations (shape memory effect) or mechanically induced transformations (superelasticity) to expand, reducing the risk of excessive pressure during balloon inflation. This review examines the mechanical properties that underpin the unique behavior of shape memory materials, their role in self-expanding cardiovascular stents, and future directions for endovascular applications.