Numerical study of flow resistance in endovascular stent with triangular wire cross-section

Abstract

Endovascular stents with different porosities and wire cross-section shapes may create different effects on the hemodynamics of aneurysm treated with interventional therapy because stents with different wire cross-section shapes induce different flow resistances through the stent strut. In order to analyze the flow resistance of the new stent with triangular cross-section by numerical simulation method, and to provide a reference basis for the structural design and optimization of endovascular stent, four kinds of models of the triangular cross-section bare stent were constructed using SoildWorks 2007 software. Numerical simulations of steady and transient blood flows in the four models were performed respectively according to CFD method using finite element software ANSYS 11. Hemodynamics data in the four models were collected, such as the flow patterns, the distribution of pressure and the flow resistance. The results show that the stent with triangular wire cross-section can produce large resistance of blood inflow to aneurysm and small resistance of outflow from aneurysm. Thus, outflow is easy and inflow is difficult. Thereby blood perfusion and flow of aneurysm cavity is restrained, and the pressure of aneurysm cavity is reduced, which plays certain effect on the intervention treatment of aneurysm. This result provides some instructions for the design of stent structure. © 2010 International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.