Development and evaluation of anisotropic and nonlinear aortic models made from clinical images for in vitro experimentation.

Development and evaluation of anisotropic and nonlinear aortic models made from clinical images for in vitro experimentation. Phys Med Biol. 2019 Jun 28;: Authors: Bernal M, Saldarriaga J, Cabeza C, Negreira C, Bustamante J, Brum J Abstract In this work we developed a methodology to manufacture a new type of arterial model that could be used in experimental setting instead of excised arteries while developing new imaging modalities. CT-images of the descending aorta were used to create molds with patient specific morphology. A Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) solution with a reinforcing cotton mesh was used to generate the models. The mesh is circumferentially elastic while non-compliant longitudinally and is responsible for the non-linear anisotropic mechanical behavior of the models. Two models were fabricated following the same manufacturing procedure. Their circumferential and longitudinal mechanical properties were evaluated and compared to those of excised healthy pig aortas via tensile testing. A very good agreement was found for the circumferential direction, while the longitudinal direction showed to have a more marked anisotropic behavior compared to the excise arteries. An increase from 113 kPa at 2.5% strain, to 914 kPa at 40% strain was obtained for the models, while the arteries showed an increase from 172 kPa at 2.5% strain to 922 kPa at 38% strain. Furthermore, by plugging the models into a cardiovascular simulator their mecha...
Source: Physics in Medicine and Biology - Category: Physics Authors: Tags: Phys Med Biol Source Type: research