Biomechanical performance of auxetic-structured PLA coronary stents: a comparative finite element analysis with Absorb and Fantom stents

Biodegradable poly-lactic acid (PLA) stents reduce the risk of restenosis and late thrombosis, but their clinical adoption is limited by the trade-off between radial strength and deliverability. To address this, a novel auxetic-structured PLA (ASP) coronary stent is proposed. Finite element analysis was conducted to evaluate its performance against commercial Absorb and Fantom stents. The ASP stent achieved a 12.6% higher radial strength than the Fantom stent, along with -31.3% axial foreshortening, as well as reduced radial recoil and plastic strain. This improvements are attributed to the synergistic combination of PLA's properties and auxetic structure, which balances stability with deliverability.