Page 62 - Advances in Biomechanics and Tissue Regeneration

56 3. DESIGN, SIMULATION, AND EXPERIMENTATION OF COLONIC STENTS

FIG. 3.26 Surgical intervention using endothelial tissue from the animal itself. Formation of a compressive collar in the area of the
descending colon.

3.6 CUSTOMIZED PARAMETRIC DESIGN

In this section, a strategy and methodology for the design of customized self-expandable NiTi colonic stents adapted
to each patient-specific case are presented, using a laser cutting tube stent design, by controlling geometry parameters.
The choice of necessary stent properties depends mainly on the length of the stenosis and degree of occlusion. There-
fore a stent design with variable radial stiffness along its longitudinal axis would be a good option. By acting inde-
pendently on different geometric factors, variable geometries can be obtained with different radial force reactions.
The design adjustment according to specific requirements is possible, getting a better fit to ill-duct and reducing
complications.
Therefore finite element simulations are used to analyze the behavior of a predefined set of geometric configurations
to establish an extrapolation technique that allows the designing of new stents adapted to the requirements of specific
patients.

I. BIOMECHANICS