title: Compound ex vivo and in silico method for hemodynamic analysis of stented arteries.
abstract: Hemodynamic factors such as low wall shear stress have been shown to influence endothelial healing and atherogenesis in stent-free vessels. However, in stented vessels, a reliable quantitative analysis of such relations has not been possible due to the lack of a suitable method for the accurate acquisition of blood flow. The objective of this work was to develop a method for the precise reconstruction of hemodynamics and quantification of wall shear stress in stented vessels. We have developed such a method that can be applied to vessels stented in or ex vivo and processed ex vivo. Here we stented the coronary arteries of ex vivo porcine hearts, performed vascular corrosion casting, acquired the vessel geometry using micro-computed tomography and reconstructed blood flow and shear stress using computational fluid dynamics. The method yields accurate local flow information through anatomic fidelity, capturing in detail the stent geometry, arterial tissue prolapse, radial and axial arterial deformation as well as strut malapposition. This novel compound method may serve as a unique tool for spatially resolved analysis of the relationship between hemodynamic factors and vascular biology. It can further be employed to optimize stent design and stenting strategies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rikhtegar
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wyss
authors.forename: Kathryn S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Stok
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Choo
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Dimos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Poulikakos
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Vartan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kurtcuoglu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003331:Coronary Vessels; D006439:Hemodynamics; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D033081:Shear Strength; D015607:Stents; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013552:Swine