METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE FINAL LENGTH OF STENTS BEFORE THE POSITIONING THEREOF

摘要

The invention relates to a new method for determining the change in length of a stent which will occur after it has been implanted inside a vascular structure. Said determining process is carried out based on the relationship between said change in length and the morphological characteristics of the vascular structure of interest.

主权项

1. A method for determining the final length of a stent before it is positioned in a vascular structure which comprises:
a) obtaining a three-dimensional image of the vascular structure in which the stent will be positioned according to any of the methods known in the state of the art, tracing a centreline in the three-dimensional representation of said vascular structure, defining the exact location of the initial point at which said stent will be positioned and dividing said centreline of the vascular structure into small segments; b) measuring on the three-dimensional image the descriptor parameters of the morphology of said vascular structure for the first segment which starts from said initial point at which said stent will be positioned in said vascular structure; c) calculating the length of the stent for said first segment using an indicator ratio of the change in length of the stent as a function of the local morphology of the vascular structure; d) subtracting said length of the segment calculated in step c) from the nominal length of the stent to obtain a new nominal length; if said new nominal length is different from 0 then steps b) to d) will be repeated for the segment contiguous with the preceding segment; if the new nominal length is approximately 0, all the distances of each segment will be added together, and this sum will be the final length of said stent after positioning.