Effects of material properties on mechanical performance of Nitinol stent designed for femoral artery: Finite element analysis

The Finite element method was used for evaluation of the effects of material properties on the mechanical performance of the new geometry designed for the Z-shaped open-cell femoral artery selfexpanding stent, made of Nitinol wire, by application of crushing force. The behavior of the stents, having two sets of properties, was compared. The stents with higher Af temperature show better clinical behavior due to lower chronic outward force, higher radial resistive strength and more suitable superelastic behavior. Model calculations show that a large change of Af temperature could exert a substantial effect on the practical performance of the stent.