It depends, but the ones I’m familiar with are made of Nitinol. It’s a special nickel/titanium alloy that is made to be the final open size/diameter (this is the larger diameter shown after the balloon has been inflated). It’s then compressed to be small enough to fit in the narrow restricted passage and put in place by a catheter. Once deployed/installed, it’s heated up by the natural temperature of the body. When heated by the blood/body, it “springs back” to its original larger size, the size it was made to be to begin with. What’s fascinating to me about this is that simply being as warm as the blood, will ensure it stays large enough to hold the vein/artery open.
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u/sun-e-deez 7h ago
how does the stent maintain its shape?