According to the current state of the art, the majority of stent implants are laser-cut or wire-based. The dimensions, manufacturing processes and materials vary depending on the medical field of application and the cost-effectiveness of the manufacturing processes. The last publicly available overview on stent implants, designs, materials and manufacturing processes was published by C. Bonsignore et al. as part of the “Proceedings of the International Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies” in 2004. As part of a more recent study at the Institute für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University (ITA) an updated overview of available stent implants on world markets was compiled to provide an improved basis for product and process development in the highly regulated field of medical stent implants. This analysis provides a comprehensive insight on the aspects material, manufacturing processes, geometry / dimensions and fields of application of currently available stent implants.weiterlesen