Kang Yosup, Lee JiYong, Park SeungHyun, Kim Jaeho, Kim Seon Il, Ryu WonHyoung
School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, South Korea.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Apr 12;15(14):17653-17663. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c00700. Epub 2023 Apr 3.
Atherosclerosis is one of the severe cardiovascular diseases in which blood vessels lose elasticity and the lumen narrows. If atherosclerosis worsens, it commonly leads to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) due to the rupture of vulnerable plaque or aortic aneurysm. As the mechanical properties of vascular tissues vary from their conditions, measuring the vascular stiffness of an inner blood vessel wall may be applied to the accurate diagnosis of atherosclerotic symptoms. Therefore, early mechanical detection of vascular stiffness is highly needed for immediate medical attention for ACS. Even with conventional examination methods such as intravascular ultrasonography and optical coherence tomography, several limitations still remain that make it difficult to directly determine the mechanical properties of the vascular tissue. As piezoelectric materials convert mechanical energy to electricity without an external power source, a piezoelectric nanocomposite could be utilized as a balloon catheter-integrated mechanical sensor on its surface. Here, we present piezoelectric nanocomposite micropyramid balloon catheter (p-MPB) arrays for measuring vascular stiffness. We study the structural characterization and feasibility of p-MPB as endovascular sensors by conducting finite element method analyses. Also, multifaceted piezoelectric voltages are measured by compression/release tests, vascular phantom tests, and porcine heart tests to confirm that the p-MPB sensor properly operates in blood vessels.
动脉粥样硬化是一种严重的心血管疾病，血管会失去弹性且管腔变窄。如果动脉粥样硬化恶化，通常会因易损斑块破裂或主动脉瘤导致急性冠状动脉综合征（ACS）。由于血管组织的力学特性因其状况而异，测量血管内壁的血管硬度可用于准确诊断动脉粥样硬化症状。因此，对于ACS的即时医疗护理，迫切需要对血管硬度进行早期力学检测。即使采用血管内超声和光学相干断层扫描等传统检查方法，仍存在一些局限性，难以直接确定血管组织的力学特性。由于压电材料无需外部电源即可将机械能转换为电能，压电纳米复合材料可作为表面集成气囊导管的力学传感器。在此，我们展示用于测量血管硬度的压电纳米复合材料微金字塔气囊导管（p-MPB）阵列。我们通过进行有限元方法分析来研究p-MPB作为血管内传感器的结构特征和可行性。此外，通过压缩/释放测试、血管模型测试和猪心测试测量多方面的压电电压，以确认p-MPB传感器在血管中能正常运行。
