Design and computational optimization of compliance-matching aortic grafts

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

Bioengineering and Biotechnology

Nikolaos Stergiopulos¹  Vasiliki Bikia¹  Georgios Rovas² 

[1] Laboratory of Hemodynamics and Cardiovascular Technology (LHTC), Institute of Bioengineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland;null;

关键词: distensibility;    synthetic;    compliance mismatch;    stent graft;    arterial prosthesis;    aortic replacement;    FEM FEA;    nickel titanium (NiTi-nitinol);   

DOI  :  10.3389/fbioe.2023.1179174

 received in 2023-03-03, accepted in 2023-06-19,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Introduction: Synthetic vascular grafts have been widely used in clinical practice for aortic replacement surgery. Despite their high rates of surgical success, they remain significantly less compliant than the native aorta, resulting in a phenomenon called compliance mismatch. This incompatibility of elastic properties may cause serious post-operative complications, including hypertension and myocardial hypertrophy.Methods: To mitigate the risk for these complications, we designed a multi-layer compliance-matching stent-graft, that we optimized computationally using finite element analysis, and subsequently evaluated in vitro.Results: We found that our compliance-matching grafts attained the distensibility of healthy human aortas, including those of young adults, thereby significantly exceeding the distensibility of gold-standard grafts. The compliant grafts maintained their properties in a wide range of conditions that are expected after the implantation. Furthermore, the computational model predicted the graft radius with enough accuracy to allow computational optimization to be performed effectively.Conclusion: Compliance-matching grafts may offer a valuable improvement over existing prostheses and they could potentially mitigate the risk for post-operative complications attributed to excessive graft stiffness.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Rovas, Bikia and Stergiopulos.