Numerical analysis of a stented coronary artery: Investigating function of two stents with magnesium and stainless steel materials

Recently, the use of coronary stents in interventional procedures has rapidly increased. Biodegradable magnesium alloy stents gained increasing interest in the past years due to their potential prospect. However, for the magnesium alloy stents to be feasible for widespread clinical use, it is important that their performance can be compared to modern permanent stents. In this project, a finite element method is used for investigating the effect of the stent geometry and material properties on its behavior. The stent designs made with two different materials, stainless steel 304 and magnesium alloy AZ 31, and the Palmaz-Schatz geometry are modeled and their behavior during the deployment is compared in terms of stress distribution in the stent, vessel wall, plaque as well as in terms of outer diameter changes, radial recoil ratio, axial recoil ratio and Foreshortening. Moreover, the effect of stent material properties on the restenosis after coronary stent placement is investigated by comparing the stress distribution in the arteries. According to the findings, the possibility of restenosis after coronary stenting is lower for magnesium alloy stents in comparison with stainless steel 304 stent.