Fig. 2.

Crimping and initial positioning of the stent graft with FE method. (a) The stent before crimping. $C_v$ (in red) is the centreline of the vessel defined by 11 points. $C_s$ (in yellow) is the centreline of the stent and the coaxial cylinder. (b) After the cylindrical surface has crimped the stent, displacements and rotations are applied to the points of $C_s$ to make them reach the corresponding points of $C_v$ and to position the stent inside the vessel (c). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)