Effects of a carotid covered stent with a novel membrane design on the blood flow regime and hemodynamic parameters distribution at the carotid artery bifurcation.

We have recently developed a novel membrane design for carotid covered stents that prevents emboli while preserving the external carotid artery (ECA) branch flow. Our earlier in vitro studies have shown that this novel design can maintain more than 83 % of the original ECA flow and has the potential to considerably reduce the chance of emboli release as compared to bare metal stents. In the present study, utilizing computational fluid dynamics simulations and fluid-structure interaction analyses, we further investigated the influence of this novel covered stent on the blood flow regime and distribution of hemodynamic parameters at the carotid artery bifurcation and within the branches.

In vivo characterization of the aortic wall stress-strain relationship.

Arterial stiffness has been shown to be a good indicator of arterial wall disease. However, a single parameter is insufficient to describe the complex stress-strain relationship of a multi-component, non-linear tissue such as the aorta. We therefore propose a new approach to measure the stress-strain relationship locally in vivo noninvasively, and present a clinically relevant parameter describing the mechanical interaction between aortic wall constituents.

Characterization of the stress-strain relationship of the abdominal aortic wall in vivo.

We hereby propose a new method to determine the regionally passive, elastic, stress-strain relationship of the normal murine abdominal aorta in vivo. The circumferential stress-strain relationship was assessed through Laplace's law, a small deformation framework and a relationship between luminal pressure and diameter variation. The regional diameter variation of the murine abdominal aortas was obtained using a cross-correlation technique on radio-frequency (RF) signals at the extremely high frame rate of 8 kHz.