  We study microwave scattering spectra of metallic stents in open air. We show
that they behave like dipole antennas in terms of microwave scattering and they
exhibit characteristic resonant frequencies for a given nominal size. We obtain
a fair agreement between measured frequencies and the values provided by a
theoretical model for dipole antennas. This fact opens the door to obtaining
methods to detect structural distortions of stents within in vitro conditions.
Finally we discuss the in vivo applicability of the suggested method in terms
of our theoretical model and the skin depth of microwaves in biological
tissues.
