The Structure and Function of Endovascular Stents: A Primer for the Interventional Nephrologist

The use of stents has become common practice in various interventional fields. The purpose of this article is to provide the interventionalist with an understanding of the basic structure stent. We describe the etymology, the classification and describe various terms used by engineers as they strive to develop that "ideal" stent. We also describe the fabrication process briefly and finally elaborate on the characteristic "build and cut" of some commonly used stents.