In vitro experimental test for mechanical properties of a vascular stent is a main method to evaluate its effectiveness and safety, which is of great significance to the clinical applications. In this study, a comparative study of planar, V-groove and radial compression methods for the radial support property test were performed, and the effects of compression rate and circumferential position on the test results were conducted. Based on the three-point bending method, the influences of compression rate and circumferential position on flexibility were also explored. And then a best test proposal was selected to evaluate the radial support property and flexibility of the three self-designed stents and the comparative biodegradable vascular stent (BVS) (BVS1.1, Abbott Vascular, USA) with different outside diameters of 1.4 mm, 1.7 mm and 2.4 mm. The results show that the developing trends of the compression load with the compression displacement measured by the three radial support property test methods are the same, but normalized radial force values are quite different. The planar compression method is more suitable for comparing the radial support properties of stents with different diameters and structures. Compression rate has no obvious effect on the testing results of both the radial support property and flexibility. Compression circumferential position has a great impact on testing radial support property with the planar or V-groove compression methods and testing flexibility with three-point bending method. The radial support properties of all the three self-designed stents are improved at a certain degree compared to that of the BVS stent. The study has better guide significance and reference value for testing mechanical properties of vascular stents.
