Stent Board
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Introduction
This board was designed to assist with the accurate deployment of intravascular stents. It has been partially superseded by advances in digital imaging technology, but it may still have utility in specific circumstances.
Construction
The casing is made of perspex. The wires are rebated and glued into perspex strips which are attached to a slider block. There is a precision ground stainless steel rod over which the engineered plastic slider blocks move. The fit between the shaft and these blocks is critical- they were hand reamed at a suitable ambient room temperature. Any play in this fit would be exaggerated by the slider wires. The slider block locking screws were made of a soft plastic (nylon, HDPE or similar) and are designed so they cannot be overtightened. They are also designed to be sacrificial- overtightening will not damage the slider block.
Application
The idea behind the board was to have a set of movable wires underneath the patient that could mark the levels of the renal arteries and the bifurcation of the aorta and any other desired anatomical levels. To mark the levels of the renal arteries, an aortogram would be performed, centred on the renal arteries, and the top wire would be moved accordingly. All anatomical structures could be marked using the same technique. Boards were also produced with 4 wires rather than 3.
A set of foam pads was made to match the thickness of the slider board. The foam pads were placed on either side of the board so that the patient was lying on a flat even surface.
Comment
The stent board has been used regularly over many years in the angiography department. The casing was made by the author and the slider block mechanism was made by an engineer. This is not a simple construction task but was well worth the effort put into its design and construction. The accurate deployment of stents was considered of critical importance and justified the effort put into the stent board.
