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The residual stress induced differences of aortic arch morphology between in vivo and in vitro states
Ya-Qing Yang1, Yu-Heng Yang1, Robert Guidoin2
1Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (Beihang University), Ministry of Education, Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China.
Background:
Despite a long history of more than 30 years, the residual stress in aortic arch has not been attached sufficient attention in the clinical treatment of cardiovascular diseases and the design of medical devices in the era of endovascular intervention.
Methods:
This study reconstructed in vivo and in vitro aortic arch models of six rats. Their geometric parameters were compared to visualize the effects of residual stress on maintaining bending configuration. Then the stress distributions within vessels were numerically analyzed.
Findings:
The experimental results showed that average arch width of in vitro models (6.22 mm ± 0.58 mm) was 27.08% smaller (p < 0.001) than that of in vivo models (8.53 mm ± 0.19 mm) due to the residual stress release. While the mean arch curvature of in vitro models (0.48 ± 0.08) was 120.36% greater (p < 0.001) than that of in vivo models (0.22 ± 0.02). The finite element analyses showed a more even intramural stress distribution under blood pressure in model with residual stress considered.
Interpretation:
This research investigated the relevance between residual stress and aortic bending configuration as well as local stress distribution, which provided additional understanding of its theory.