Figure 2

Strength and flexibility of the TAXUS Element stent compared to TAXUS Express and TAXUS Liberté stents. (A) Stent integrity, as measured by an accelerated life test of the bending fatigue of a stent in a simulated overlapped stent configuration, showing number of bend cycles before stent fracture. The test is conducted by mounting one end of a nominally deployed stent to a fixed mandrel while the other end is mounted to a mandrel suspended in a flexible membrane. The membrane mounted end of the stent is translated perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stent to impart a repeatable bend in the stent. (B) Conformability - a measure of the torque required to bend the stent to a specific curvature, which is directly related to flexibility of the stent. Lower required bending moment indicates increased flexibility. N = 15 for each stent type. Bars represent ± 1 standard deviation.