The generic balloon expandable stent, a.k.a. the gStent-BE, is laser-cut from stainless steel tubing the same as most commercially available stents. It has a simple undulating strut pattern, uniform connectors and is electropolished. Extensive testing and evaluation has been performed on the gStent-BE. This image was provided by Brian Berg and his colleagues at Boston Scientific. It is a typical image produced during dimensional inspection.
Brian inspected of 32+ stents at multiple locations to determine the following dimensions for the gStent-BE:
Overall stent length = 27.9 mm
Stent thickness = 0.129 mm
Crown width = 0.163 mm
Strut width = 0.152 mm
Bridge width = 0.094 mm
They studied the expansion of the stents with different types of balloons and determined how to get the most uniform results. Here is a picture of a non-compliant balloon expanding the gStent-BE.
