PARAMETRIC DESIGN ANALYSIS AND SHAPE OPTIMIZATION OF PERCUTANEOUS AORTIC VALVE STENTS

Vascular support structures are an important tool for treating valve stenosis. A large population of patients are treated for valvular disease and the principal mode of treatment is the use of percutaneous valvuloplasty. Stent devices are proving to be an improved treatment method; these devices now account for 20% of treatments in Europe. This new technology provides highly effective results at minimal cost and short duration of hospitalization. Accurate and reliable structural analysis provides essential information to the design team in an environment where in vivo experimentation is extremely expensive, or impossible. This paper describes the design of vascular support structure (stents), to provide designers with estimates of the critical parameters which are essential to restore the functions of the endothelium of the Aorta during and after implantation without injuring it.