title: A novel electrical potential sensing method for in vitro stent fracture monitoring and detection.
abstract: This article describes a preliminary investigation and prototype fabrication of a novel potential sensing method to continuously monitor vascular stent fractures. A potential measurement system consisting of Wheatstone bridge circuit and signal conditioning circuit was designed for the cardiovascular stent durability and fatigue test. Each end of a bare and polyurethane-covered Nitinol vascular stent was electrically connected to the potential measurement system and then immersed either in simulated body fluid (SBF) media or distilled water at 36.4 ± 1 °C. When the stent experienced fracture (i.e., a cut), its electrical potential decreased with an increase in electrical resistance. This method successfully measured fractures in the stent regardless of location. Furthermore, the number of cycles at the onset of stent fracture was accurately detected and continuously monitored using this technique. Thus, the present fracture detection method, which to our knowledge is the first ever report to use electrical potential measurement for stent durability test, gives a fast, real-time, accurate and efficient detection of fractures in stent during in vitro fatigue and durability test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bionanosystem Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Korea.
authors.forename: Chan-Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Leonard D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Tijing
authors.forename: Yeoheung
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Cheol Sang
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000497:Alloys; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015607:Stents
chemical_list: D000497:Alloys; C013616:nitinol