Stent Artery Interaction and Its Significance on Stent Durability in the SFA and Femoropopliteal Arteries

Lack of detailed stent artery interactions is responsible for rampant stent fracture in the human SFA or popliteal arteries. Armed with recent research work quantifying dynamic changes of the SFA and popliteal vessels, we investigated stent deformations under various modes of dynamic physiological conditions and their interactions using realistic artery constitutive models. Fatigue strains were calculated using finite element analysis and were compared with material’s endurance limit data obtained using a special V-shape sample. A linear damage accumulation formula (Minor’s rule) was employed to predict safety factors for the stent.