A bare metal stent is an effective device for opening atherosclerotic arteries and other blockages:
The success of stenting depends largely on how the stent and the artery interact mechanically. In both the stent-design process and in pre-clinical patient-specific evaluations, computer simulation using finite element analysis (FEA) has become an accepted tool for studying stent-artery interaction.
A viable stent-artery finite element model must properly reflect the nonlinear nature of the phenomenon, such as the biological tissue properties, large arterial wall deformation, and the sliding contact between the stent and the artery wall.