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Schiavone et al. Vessel Plus 2017;1:12-21 Vessel Plus
DOI: 10.20517/2574-1209.2016.03
www.vpjournal.net
Original Article Open Access

Crimping and deployment of metallic and

polymeric stents -- finite element modelling

Alessandro Schiavone, Tian-Yang Qiu, Li-Guo Zhao
Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK.

Correspondence to: Prof. Li-Guo Zhao, Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University,
Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK. E-mail: L.Zhao@lboro.ac.uk

How to cite this article: Schiavone A, Qiu TY, Zhao LG. Crimping and deployment of metallic and polymeric stents -- finite element modelling.
Vessel Plus 2017;1:12-21.

Prof. Li-Guo Zhao is a Professor of Solid Mechanics at Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing
Engineering of Loughborough University. He holds a PhD in Solid Mechanics (1996) and a BEng in applied
mechanics (1992), awarded by Xi’an Jiaotong University, one of the top and prestigious universities of China. He
has been continuously working on Structural Integrity of gas turbine engines, focusing on deformation, facture,
fatigue, creep, crack initiation and growth for nickel-based superalloys. He received the award of prestigious Royal
Society-Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship in 2008. Recently, he has extended his research into stent
Biomechanics, funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Royal Society of the UK.
ABSTRACT
Article history: Aim: This paper aims to compare the mechanical performance of metallic (Xience) and
Received: 19-10-2016 bioresorbable polymeric (Elixir) stents during the process of crimping and deployment.
Accepted: 03-01-2017 Methods: Finite element software ABAQUS was used to create the geometrical models and
Published: 31-03-2017 meshes for the balloon, stent and diseased artery. To simulate the crimping of stents, 12 rigid
plates were generated around the stent and subjected to radially enforced displacement. The
Key words: deployment of both stents was simulated by applying internal pressure to the balloon, where
Polymeric stents, hard contacts were defined between balloon, stent and diseased artery. Results: Elixir stent
metallic stents, exhibited a lower expansion rate than Xience stent during deployment. The stent diameter
finite element, achieved after balloon deflation was found smaller for Elixir stent due to higher recoiling.
crimping, Lower level of stresses was found in the plaque and artery when expanded by Elixir stent.
deployment Reduced expansion, increased dogboning and decreased vessel stresses were obtained when
considering the crimping-generated residual stresses in the simulations. Conclusion: There
is a challenge for polymeric stents to match the mechanical performance of metallic stents.
However, polymeric stents impose lower stresses to the artery system due to less property
mismatch between polymers and arterial tissues, which could be clinically beneficial.

INTRODUCTION especially the development of drug-eluting stents
(DESs, approved by Food and Drug Administration
Over the past three decades, significant improvements (FDA) of USA in 2002). The vast majority of DESs
have been made in stent designs and materials, used so far have non-degradable polymer coatings,

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