OCT-BASED THREE DIMENSIONAL MODELING OF STENT DEPLOYMENT.

Stent deployment has been widely used to treat narrowed coronary artery. Its acute outcome in terms of stent under expansion and malapposition depends on the extent and shape of calcifications. However, no clear understanding as to how to quantify or categorize the impact of calcification. We have conducted ex vivo stenting characterized by the optical coherence tomography (OCT). The goal of this work is to capture the ex vivo stent deployment and quantify the effect of calcium morphology on the stenting. A three dimensional model of calcified plaque was reconstructed from ex vivo OCT images. The crimping, balloon expansion and recoil process of the Express stent were characterized. Three cross-sections with different calcium percentages were chosen to evaluated the effect of the calcium in terms of stress/strain, lumen gains and malapposition. Results will be used to the pre-surgical planning.