EHTC 2009

Use of Airbag Modelling to Cardiovascular Development

Virginie Astier, Vincent Garitey, Frédéric Mouret - Protomed & Samuel Bidal - Altair

A stent is a wire metal mesh tube placed into an artery or blood vessel to hold the structure open. The stent is collapsed to a small diameter and put over a balloon catheter. It's then moved into the area of the blockage. When the balloon is inflated, the stent expands, locks in place and forms a scaffold. This holds the artery open. The stent stays in the artery permanently, holds it open, improves blood flow to the heart muscle and relieves symptoms.

To optimize stent capabilities, the current design activity is aimed at improving uniform deployment, minimal recoil and foreshortening, maximal radial force, etc.

FE models were built to simulate realistic stent deployment for balloon expandable stents. The balloon is expanded accounting for balloon–stent interaction by applying a pressure (Air-bag function) on the inner surface of the balloon. Simulations allow to study the stent deployment and, then, the balloon is removed to study stent mechanical properties, like recoil and radial stiffness.

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