stenttop: A balloon catheter with a stent is inserted into a clogged artery.center: The balloon is inflated, expanding the stent.bottom: The stent is placed and the balloon catheter removed, keeping the artery open.stent (st?nt)n.1. A device used to support a bodily orifice or cavity during skin grafting or to immobilize a skin graft following placement.2. A short tubular device made of wire mesh or fabric that is placed permanently in an anatomical passage, usually an artery during angioplasty, to keep it open after occlusion.[After Charles R. Stent (1845-1901), British dentist.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.stent (st?nt) n (Surgery) med a tube of plastic or sprung metal mesh placed inside a hollow tube to reopen it or keep it open; uses in surgery include preventing a blood vessel from closing, esp after angioplasty, and assisting healing after an anastomosis[C19: after Charles Stent (1807?85), English dentist]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014stent (st?nt) n. Med. a small, expandable tube used for inserting in a blocked vessel or other part. [1960?65; orig. uncertain] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.