Fluid-Structure Interactions of Peripheral Arteries Using a Coupled in silico and in vitro Approach

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

Abstract

Abstract Vascular compliance is considered both a cause and a consequence of cardiovascular disease and a significant factor in the mid- and long-term patency of vascular grafts. However, the biomechanical effects of localised changes in compliance, such as during plaque development or after bypass grafting and stenting, cannot be satisfactorily studied with the available medical imaging technologies or surgical simulation materials. To address this unmet need, we developed a coupled silico-vitro platform which allows for the validation of numerical fluid-structure interaction (FSI) results as a numerical model and physical prototype. This numerical one-way and two-way FSI study is based on a three-dimensional computer model of an idealised femoral artery which is validated against patient measurements derived from the literature. The numerical results are then compared with experimental values collected from compliant arterial phantoms. Phantoms within a compliance range of 1.4 - 68.0%/100mmHg were fabricated via additive manufacturing and silicone casting, then mechanically characterised via ring tensile testing and optical analysis under direct pressurisation with differences in measured compliance ranging between 10 - 20% for the two methods. One-way FSI coupling underestimated arterial wall compliance by up to 14.71% compared to two-way FSI modelling. Overall, Smooth-On Solaris matched the compliance range of the numerical and in vivo patient models most closely out of the tested silicone materials. Our approach is promising for vascular applications where mechanical compliance is especially important, such as the study of diseases which commonly affect arterial wall stiffness, such as atherosclerosis, and the model-based design, surgical training, and optimisation of vascular prostheses.

Authors 5

1. Sabrina Schoenborn

   Queensland University of Technology · The University of Queensland

   Affiliation as printed

   BioMimetic Systems Engineering (BMSE) Lab, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland (UQ), St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

   Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology (BTM) Group, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

   BioMimetic Systems Engineering (BMSE) Lb, School of Chemicl Engineering, University of Queenslnd (UQ), St Luci, QLD, 4072, Austrli

   Biofarication and Tissue Morphology (BTM) Group, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

2. David Frederick Fletcher

   The University of Sydney

   Affiliation as printed

   School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Darlington, NSW, 2006, Australia

   School o Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University o Sydney, Darlington, NSW, 2006, Australia

3. Maria Ann Woodruff

   Queensland University of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology (BTM) Group, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

   Biofarication and Tissue Morphology (BTM) Group, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

4. Selene Pirola

   Imperial College London · Delft University of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   BHF Centre of Research Excellence, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom

   Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (3me), Delft University of Technology (TUD), Delft, the Netherlands

   BHF Centre of Research Excellence, Faculty of Meicine, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Imperial College Lonon, South Kensington Campus, Lonon SW7 2AZ, Unite Kingom

   Dpartmnt of Biomchanical Enginring, Faculty of Mchanical Enginring (3m), Dlft Univrsity of Tchnology (TUD), Dlft, th Nthrlands

5. Mark C. Allenby corresponding

   Queensland University of Technology · The University of Queensland

   Affiliation as printed

   BioMimetic Systems Engineering (BMSE) Lab, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland (UQ), St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

   Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology (BTM) Group, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

   BioMimetic Systems Engineering (BMSE) Lb, School of Chemicl Engineering, University of Queenslnd (UQ), St Luci, QLD, 4072, Austrli

   Biofarication and Tissue Morphology (BTM) Group, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia