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Project

How do cardiovascular diseases and their treatments affect the microstructural-mechanical relationship? An advanced 3D microstructural analysis & modeling approach

Cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death worldwide. Treatment options such as intravascular stent deposition or balloon angioplasty often tend to fail. The hypothesis is that this failure is partly due the application of too large mechanical forces on the vascular tissue during treatment. However, the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood. To better understand these mechanisms and to evaluate potential new treatment techniques, biomechanical characterization of vascular tissue could provide a solution. The goal of this thesis is, therefore, two-fold. The first aim is to create a database of microstructural and mechanical properties of healthy and diseased vascular tissues. For this, I will optimize contrast-enhanced 3D microfocus X-ray computed tomography (CECT) for vascular tissues. I will also develop, validate and apply a novel methodology for dynamic testing of vascular tissues, named 4D CE-CT. 4D CE-CT combines in-situ mechanical testing of soft tissues with CE-CT imaging. The second objective is to create a more comprehensive computational model to evaluate and predict the outcome of a medical treatment. For this, we will use the microstructural information provided by CE-CT of native and diseased vascular tissues. The results of the 4D CE-CT imaging will serve as validation of the model. The combined imaging and modelling approach should improve the insights into the failure mechanisms of some current treatments of cardiovascular diseases.

Date:16 Feb 2021 →  Today
Keywords:Contrast-enhanced microCT, in-situ mechanical testing, biofidelic modelling
Disciplines:Continuum mechanics, Tissue and organ biomechanics
Project type:PhD project