School of Mechanical Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, 61005, Republic of Korea.
Sci Rep. 2018 Sep 17;8(1):13911. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-32129-3.
Non-invasive delivery of artificial implants, stents or devices in patients is vital for rapid and successful recovery. Unfortunately, because the delivery passage is often narrower than the size of the delivered object, a compromise between the shape that is effective at the targeted location and a thin form that allows smooth unobstructed travel to the destination is needed. We address this problem through two key technologies: 3D printing and shape memory polymers (SMPs). 3D printing can produce patient-customizable objects, and SMPs can change their initially formed shape to the final desired shape through external stimulation. Using these two technologies, we examine the design and fabrication of bifurcated stents. This study presents a mock-up where blood vessels are fabricated using moulded silicon, which supports the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experimental results reveal that a bifurcated stent with a kirigami structure can smoothly travel inside a vessel without being obstructed by branched parts. We believe that this work can improve the success rate of stent insertion operations in medicine.
在患者体内无创输送人工植入物、支架或器械对于快速和成功的康复至关重要。不幸的是，由于输送通道通常比输送物体的尺寸小，因此需要在在目标位置有效的形状和允许顺畅无阻地到达目的地的薄形式之间进行折衷。我们通过两项关键技术来解决这个问题：3D 打印和形状记忆聚合物（SMP）。3D 打印可以生产出可定制患者的物体，而 SMP 可以通过外部刺激将其初始形成的形状改变为最终所需的形状。我们使用这两项技术来研究分支支架的设计和制造。本研究提出了一个使用模制硅制造血管的模型，该模型支持所提出方法的有效性。实验结果表明，具有折纸结构的分叉支架可以在不被分支部分阻塞的情况下在血管内顺畅地移动。我们相信这项工作可以提高医学中支架插入手术的成功率。
