title: Virtual optimization of self-expandable braided wire stents.
abstract: At present, the deployment of self-expandable braided stents has become a common and widely used minimally invasive treatment for stenotic lesions in the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory system. To improve these revascularization procedures (e.g. increase the positioning accuracy) the optimal strategy lies in the further development of the stent design. In the context of optimizing braided stent designs, computational models can provide an excellent research tool complementary to analytical models. In this study, a finite element based modelling strategy is proposed to investigate and optimize the mechanics of braided stents. First a geometrical and finite element model of a braided Urolume endoprosthesis was built with the open source pyFormex design tool. The results of the reference simulation of the Urolume stent are in close agreement with both analytical and experimental data. Subsequently, a simplex-based design optimization algorithm automatically adjusts the reference Urolume geometry to facilitate precise positioning by reducing the foreshortening with 20% while maintaining the radial stiffness. Therefore, the proposed modelling strategy appears to be a promising optimization methodology in braided stent design.
authors.affiliation: Institute Biomedical Technology (IBiTech), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Matthieu.DeBeule@UGent.be
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Beule
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Cauter
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mortier
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Loo
authors.forename: Rudy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Impe
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verdonck
authors.forename: Benedict
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Verhegghe
mesh_terms: D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015607:Stents