Flexibility is one of the important mechanical performance parameters of stent. The flexibility of tapered stents, especially self-expanding tapered stents, remains unknown. In this study, we developed a new selfexpanding tapered stent for tapered arteries and performed a numerical investigation of stent flexibility by using finite element method. The effect of stent design parameters, including taper and link space width, on stent flexibility was studied. The flexibility of the proposed stent was also compared with that of traditional cylindrical stents. Results show that the tapered stent is more flexible than the traditional cylindrical stent. Furthermore, the flexibility of the tapered stent increases with increasing stent taper and stent link space width. The increase in the stent link space width can contribute to the reduction in the peak stress. Therefore, tapered stents with high link space width will improve the stent flexibility. This work provides useful information for improvement of stent design and clinical selection.

柔韧性是支架的重要机械性能参数之一。锥形支架，尤其是自膨胀锥形支架的柔性仍然未知。在这项研究中，我们开发了一种新的用于锥形动脉的自扩张锥形支架，并使用有限元方法对支架的柔韧性进行了数值研究。研究了支架设计参数（包括锥度和链接空间宽度）对支架柔韧性的影响。提出的支架的柔韧性也与传统的圆柱形支架进行了比较。结果表明，锥形支架比传统的圆柱形支架更具柔性。此外，锥形支架的柔性随着支架锥度和支架连接空间宽度的增加而增加。支架连接空间宽度的增加可有助于降低峰值应力。因此，具有高链接空间宽度的锥形支架将改善支架的柔韧性。这项工作为改善支架设计和临床选择提供了有用的信息。