Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Structural Mechanics Division, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Int J Numer Method Biomed Eng. 2013 Jun;29(6):645-64. doi: 10.1002/cnm.2511. Epub 2012 Sep 29.
Finite element analysis is nowadays a well-assessed technique to investigate the impact of stenting on vessel wall and, given the rapid progression of both medical imaging techniques and computational methods, the challenge of using the simulation of carotid artery stenting as procedure planning tool to support the clinical practice can be approached. Within this context, the present study investigates the impact of carotid stent apposition on carotid artery anatomy by means of patient-specific finite element analysis. In particular, we focus on the influence of the vessel constitutive model on the prediction of carotid artery wall tensional state of lumen gain and of vessel straightening. For this purpose, we consider, for a given stent design and CA anatomy, two constitutive models for the CA wall, that is, a hyperelastic isotropic versus a fiber-reinforced hyperelastic anisotropic model. Despite both models producing similar patterns with respect to stress distribution, the anisotropic model predicts a higher vessel straightening and a more evident discontinuity of the lumen area near the stent ends as observed in the clinical practice. Although still affected by several simplifications, the present study can be considered as further step toward a realistic simulation of carotid artery stenting.
有限元分析是一种评估血管支架对血管壁影响的技术。随着医学成像技术和计算方法的快速发展，我们可以利用颈动脉支架置入术的模拟作为辅助临床实践的手术规划工具。在这种背景下，本研究通过患者特异性有限元分析来研究颈动脉支架贴壁对颈动脉解剖结构的影响。特别关注血管本构模型对管腔获得和血管拉直的颈动脉壁拉伸状态预测的影响。为此，我们考虑了两种用于 CA 壁的本构模型，即各向同性超弹性模型和纤维增强各向异性超弹性模型，对于给定的支架设计和 CA 解剖结构。尽管两种模型在应力分布方面都产生了相似的模式，但各向异性模型预测了更高的血管拉直和更明显的管腔面积不连续性，这在临床实践中可以观察到。尽管仍受到许多简化的影响，但本研究可以被视为向更真实的颈动脉支架置入术模拟迈出的进一步步骤。
