Feasibility of Determination of Mechanical Properties of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms by Simultaneous Pressure and Volume Measurements In-Vivo

Author(s):  
Marcel van ’t Veer ◽  
Marcel C. M. Rutten ◽  
Jaap Buth ◽  
Nico H. J. Pijls ◽  
Frans N. van de Vosse

In an effort to better predict the risk of rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), methods have been developed that comprise more than diameter information alone. Wall stress calculations demonstrated superior results compared to the diameter criterion [1]. Accurate wall stress calculations require patient specific geometry, load, and wall properties of the aneurysm [2]. Usually, values for mechanical properties obtained from in-vitro tensile tests of excised aneurysmal wall material are used for wall stress calculations [3]. For obvious reasons such experiments to obtain vessel properties are impossible to perform in patient specific cases for risk assessment.

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Peattie ◽  
Tiffany J. Riehle ◽  
Edward I. Bluth

As one important step in the investigation of the mechanical factors that lead to rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysms, flow fields and flow-induced wall stress distributions have been investigated in model aneurysms under pulsatile flow conditions simulating the in vivo aorta at rest. Vortex pattern emergence and evolution were evaluated, and conditions for flow stability were delineated. Systolic flow was found to be forward-directed throughout the bulge in all the models, regardless of size. Vortices appeared in the bulge initially during deceleration from systole, then expanded during the retrograde flow phase. The complexity of the vortex field depended strongly on bulge diameter. In every model, the maximum shear stress occurred at peak systole at the distal bulge end, with the greatest shear stress developing in a model corresponding to a 4.3 cm AAA in vivo. Although the smallest models exhibited stable flow throughout the cycle, flow in the larger models became increasingly unstable as bulge size increased, with strong amplification of instability in the distal half of the bulge. These data suggest that larger aneurysms in vivo may be subject to more frequent and intense turbulence than smaller aneurysms. Concomitantly, increased turbulence may contribute significantly to wall stress magnitude and thereby to risk of rupture.


Author(s):  
Avinash Ayyalasomayajula ◽  
Bruce R. Simon ◽  
Jonathan P. Vande Geest

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a progressive dilation of the infrarenal aorta and results in a significant alteration in local hemodynamic environment [1]. While an aneurysmal diameter of 5.5cm is typically classified as being of high risk, recent studies have demonstrated that maximum wall stress could be a better indicator of an AAA rupture than maximum diameter [2]. The wall stress is greatly influenced by the blood pressure, aneurysm diameter, shape, wall thickness and the presence of thrombus. The work done by Finol et al. suggested that hemodynamic pressure variations have an insignificant effect on AAA wall stress and that primarily the shape of the aneurysm determines the stress distribution. They noted that for peak wall stress studies the static pressure conditions would suffice as the in vivo conditions. Wang et al have developed an isotropic hyperelastic constitutive model for the intraluminal thrombus (ILT). Such models have been used to study the stress distributions in patient specific AAAs [3, 4].


Author(s):  
Evelyne van Dam ◽  
Marcel Rutten ◽  
Frans van de Vosse

Rupture risk of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) based on wall stress analysis may be superior to the currently used diameter-based rupture risk prediction [4; 5; 6; 7]. In patient specific computational models for wall stress analysis, the geometry of the aneurysm is obtained from CT or MR images. The wall thickness and mechanical properties are mostly assumed to be homogeneous. The pathological AAA vessel wall may contain collageneous areas, but also calcifications, cholesterol crystals and large amounts of fat cells. No research has yet focused yet on the differences in mechanical properties of the components present within the degrading AAA vessel wall.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Borghi ◽  
Nigel B. Wood ◽  
Raad H. Mohiaddin ◽  
X. Yun Xu

Thoracoabdominal aneurysm (TA) is a pathology that involves the enlargement of the aortic diameter in the inferior descending thoracic aorta and has risk factors including aortic dissection, aortitis or connective tissue disorders (Webb, T. H. and Williams, G. M. 1999). Abnormal flow patterns and stress on the diseased aortic wall are thought to play an important role in the development of this pathology and the internal wall stress has proved to be more reliable as a predictor of rupture than the maximum diameter for abdominal aortic aneurysms (Fillinger, M. F., et al. 2003). In the present study, two patients with TAs of different maximum diameters were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Realistic models of the aneurysms were reconstructed from the in vivo MRI data acquired from the patients, and subject-specific flow conditions were applied as boundary conditions. The wall and thrombus were modeled as hyperelastic materials and their properties were derived from the literature. Fully coupled fluid-solid interaction simulations were performed for both cases using ADINA 8.2. Results were obtained for both the flow and wall stress patterns within the aneurysms. The results show that the wall stress distribution and its magnitude are strongly dependent on the 3-D shape of the aneurysm and the distribution of thrombus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Burgos Lázaro ◽  
N Burgos Frías ◽  
S Serrano-Fiz García ◽  
V Ospina Mosquera ◽  
F Rojo Pérez ◽  
...  

Abstract INTRODUCTION The surgical indication for ascending aortic aneurysms (AAA) is established when the maximum diameter > 50 mm; It responds to Laplace's Law (T wall = P × r / 2e). The aim of the study is to define wall stress in AAA. MATERIAL AND METHODS 218 ascending aortic walls have been studied: 96 from organ donors, and 122 from AAA: Marfán 58 (47.5%), bicuspid aortic valve 26 (21.4%), and atherosclerosis 38 (31.1%). The samples were studied "in vitro", according to the model Young's (relationship between stress and deformed area), by means of the mechanical traction test (Tension = Force / Area). The analysis was performed with the stress-elongation curve (d Tension / d Elongation). RESULTS The stress of the aortic wall, classified from highest to lowest according to pathology and age was: cystic necrosis of the middle layer, arteriosclerosis, age > 60 years, between 35 and 59, and < 34 years. The stress of “control aortas” wall increased directly in relation to the age of the donors. CONCLUSIONS The maximum diameter of the ascending aorta, the patient's type of pathology and age are factors that affect the maximum tension of the aortic wall and resistance, factors that allow differentiation and prediction of the risk of rupture of the AAA. The validation of the results obtained through numerical simulation was significant and the uniaxial analysis has modeled the response of the vessels to their internal pressure.


Author(s):  
David M. Pierce ◽  
Thomas E. Fastl ◽  
Hannah Weisbecker ◽  
Gerhard A. Holzapfel ◽  
Borja Rodriguez-Vila ◽  
...  

Through progress in medical imaging, image analysis and finite element (FE) meshing tools it is now possible to extract patient-specific geometries from medical images of, e.g., abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), and thus to study clinically relevant problems via FE simulations. Medical imaging is most often performed in vivo, and hence the reconstructed model geometry in the problem of interest will represent the in vivo state, e.g., the AAA at physiological blood pressure. However, classical continuum mechanics and FE methods assume that constitutive models and the corresponding simulations start from an unloaded, stress-free reference condition.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Corbett ◽  
Anthony Callanan ◽  
Liam G. Morris ◽  
Barry J. Doyle ◽  
Pierce A. Grace ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Barry J. Doyle ◽  
Anthony Callanan ◽  
John Killion ◽  
Timothy M. McGloughlin

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) remain a significant cause of death in the Western world with over 15,000 deaths per year in the US linked to AAA rupture. Recent research [1] has questioned the use of maximum diameter as a definitive risk parameter as it is now believed that alternative factors may be important in rupture-prediction. Wall stress was shown to be a better predictor than diameter of rupture [1], with biomechanics-based rupture indices [2,3] and asymmetry also reported to have potential clinical applicability [4]. However, the majority of numerical methods used to form these alternative rupture parameters are without rigorous experimental validation, and therefore may not be as accurate as believed. Validated experiments are required in order to convince the clinical community of the worth of numerical tools such as finite element analysis (FEA) in AAA risk-prediction. Strain gauges have been used in the past to determine the strain on an AAA [5], however, the photoelastic method has also proved to be a useful tool in AAA biomechanics [6]. This paper examines the approach using three medium-sized patient-specific AAA cases at realistic pressure loadings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Q. Pancheri ◽  
Robert A. Peattie ◽  
Nithin D. Reddy ◽  
Touhid Ahamed ◽  
Wenjian Lin ◽  
...  

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) represent permanent, localized dilations of the abdominal aorta that can be life-threatening if progressing to rupture. Evaluation of risk of rupture depends on understanding the mechanical behavior of patient AAA walls. In this project, a series of patient AAA wall tissue samples have been evaluated through a combined anamnestic, mechanical, and histopathologic approach. Mechanical properties of the samples have been characterized using a novel, strain-controlled, planar biaxial testing protocol emulating the in vivo deformation of the aorta. Histologically, the tissue ultrastructure was highly disrupted. All samples showed pronounced mechanical stiffening with stretch and were notably anisotropic, with greater stiffness in the circumferential than the axial direction. However, there were significant intrapatient variations in wall stiffness and stress. In biaxial tests in which the longitudinal stretch was held constant at 1.1 as the circumferential stretch was extended to 1.1, the maximum average circumferential stress was 330 ± 70 kPa, while the maximum average axial stress was 190 ± 30 kPa. A constitutive model considering the wall as anisotropic with two preferred directions fit the measured data well. No statistically significant differences in tissue mechanical properties were found based on patient gender, age, maximum bulge diameter, height, weight, body mass index, or smoking history. Although a larger patient cohort is merited to confirm these conclusions, the project provides new insight into the relationships between patient natural history, histopathology, and mechanical behavior that may be useful in the development of accurate methods for rupture risk evaluation.


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