Stent grafts are used to treat a wide variety of peripheral arterial issues, as well as abdominal and thoracic aortic pathologic conditions like abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The success of endovascular stent grafts for AAA’s has provided motivation to adapt similar technology for descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA’s). Survival rates for untreated and traditionally treated (through complex thoracic surgeries) aneurysms are typically quite poor.
Advantages of the stent grafts include shorter operative time, avoidance of major thoracic or thoracoabdominal incisions, and significant reductions in morbidity and mortality. For success, you must accurately place the stent graft and ensure it does not move, especially in upper descending thoracic aorta cases.
Typical secure placement for stent grafts is a strong function of the proper selection and sizing since the physiological movements of the aorta can be significant. Additionally, stent grafts have much larger diameters than coronary stents (30+ mm versus 2-3 mm). Evaluating the radial strength of a stent graft helps manufacturers to ensure efficacy and reliability of the medical device when implanted in vivo.
Our RX650 provides flexibility to accommodate stent grafts that are over 40 mm in diameter and more than 200 mm in length. Unlike fixtures that rely on compression platens or vee blocks that can cause unwanted deformation of the stent graft, the RX system utilizes a low friction segment approach to provide a more accurate measure of radial force. The fixture can also be customized and provided for special specimen types and provide radial strength and stiffness over the entire graft or the securing graft ends. Although room-temperature testing provides excellent comparative results, the system can be configured with a chamber to provide simulation of body temperature.