The importance of annealing 316 LVM stents.

The annealing process is an important key step in the manufacture of high quality and reliable 316 LVM stents. [figure: see text] The methods commonly applied for verifying the outcome of the annealing process such as microhardness testing are inappropriate and should not be used. The tension testing of tubes, processed together with stents, provides reliable results of the final material properties of stents. During the course of the investigation the grain size was reduced significantly and the break elongation improved. The surface of the strain-tested material shows substantial improvements. All results are particularly important for thin-wall stents with filigree struts.