Fig. 3.

Schematic drawing of circumferential stent compression during crimping (A) and stent self-expansion (B) performed on a radial force tester. Schematic drawing of deformation characteristics of a self-expanding (nitinol) stent during crimping and expansion (C). The test starts fully expanded at 10 mm (1). The stent is then crimped to a nominal outer diameter of 5 mm (2) and self-expands back to the initial 10 mm. The force exerted during crimping is the radial resistive force, the force exerted during self-expansion is the chronic outward force