BIORESORBABLE BALLON-EXPANDING STENT DEVELOPMENT FOR AORTIC COARCTATION
Aortic coarctation is a congenital heart disease that can lead to death due to breathing difficulties and blood pumping — the pediatric case is the most critical. A possible treatment uses stent implantation in the fibrous region of the descending aorta, with possible reimplantation over time. The objective of this work was to develop prototypes of bioresorbable balloon-expanding stents for application in aortic coarctation. The characterization of poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly (dl-lactic acid) (PLDLA) was carried out to select the best material for the prototype, evaluating results of TGA, DSC, optical microscopy and with polarized light, SEM and tensile strength. The stent geometry was modeled and simulated using Abaqus® and MATLAB softwares. PLLA presented better mechanical and thermal properties and was selected for 3D printing of the obtained geometry. The protocol of prototype evaluation was developed, considering elastic recoil and compliance tests. The results indicate that the stent developed in this study may present better clinical applicability than those available in the current market.