Angles of Intersection
- Vessels are rarely at exactly 90 degrees. The intersections are thus elliptical in shape, but ellipses only exist on a two dimensional plane. In 3D reality we also must take into account the curvature of the vessel.
- Perhaps a more exacting approach to side branch access is to measure the perimeter of a stent's cell and compare this to the perimeter of the intersection. This will give an indication if it is possible to expand a stent's cell wide enough to move all of the metal out of the way to pass other devices and improve laminar blood flow.