We aimed to determine the correlation between optical frequency-domain imaging (OFDI) and micro-computed tomography (mCT) in the quantitative and qualitative assessment of ABSORB® bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) in a bench test of multiple bifurcation technique.

BVS were deployed in bifurcation silicon phantoms divided into two benches. Bench A is a LAD-diagonal bifurcation with a 40° angle and bench B, a left main bifurcation with a 70° angle. Finet’s law was respected. Different bifurcation techniques (provisional T stenting, kissing balloon, mini crush and culotte) were performed with a total of 16 procedures, 8 for each bench. All procedures were imaged by OFDI and mCT. BVS area, lumen area, number of struts, maximal stent thickness, disruption, lumen protrusion and deformation were the parameters collected. The analysis was performed in each segment, proximal, bifurcation and distal.

In bench A, we found no differences between OFDI and mCT for each proximal, bifurcation and distal segments concerning BVS area, lumen area, number of struts, maximal stent thickness, fractures, lumen protrusion, BVS deformation or BVS fragments. In the proximal segment, length was higher in mCT (13.2mm vs 10.4mm; p<0.0001) and there was more malapposition detected in mCT (75% vs 0%, p=0.007). In bench B, for the proximal segment, lumen area was higher (13.7mm² vs 13.mm², p=0.01) and we found more BVS malapposition in mCT (100% vs 0%, p=0.0002). All the other parameters were similar. In each bench, the apposition defect measured by mCT remained minimal.

We demonstrated an excellent correlation between OFDI and mCT which is considered as the gold standard to evaluate stent in bench tests. In vitro techniques can now be validated in vivo using OFDI.