Expansion and drug elution model of a coronary stent.

The present study illustrates a possible methodology to investigate drug elution from an expanded coronary stent. Models based on finite element method have been built including the presence of the atherosclerotic plaque, the artery and the coronary stent. These models take into account the mechanical effects of the stent expansion as well as the effect of drug transport from the expanded stent into the arterial wall. Results allow to quantify the stress field in the vascular wall, the tissue prolapse within the stent struts, as well as the drug concentration at any location and time inside the arterial wall, together with several related quantities as the drug dose and the drug residence times.