Development of a method to produce an arterial artificial stenosis model

Cardiovascular diseases are most common causes of death in developed countries, topped by coronary heart disease. Besides bypass operations standard methods for revascularisation of a constricted artery is a stent implantation. A great number of stent types is available. To investigate their expansion behavior or flow conditions during stent implantation a standard stenosis model is obligated to obtain reliable and reproducible analytical results. We present a modular system for systematically testing a broad spectrum of various artery and stenosis parameters. We modified an existing method to produce our arterial phantoms out of silicone. The artery models were examined optically and mechanically and proved to be of consistent quality. To approach real calcified stenoses an inlay of calcium carbonate was designed, produced and introdued into the silicone artery to form the model constriction. At last, a tool was developed for precisely inserting the stenosis into the artery. This work provides a basis for systematically studying an array of stenosed arteries and is designed to serve a standard in-lab stent expansion test. This testing method may also prove to be useful for e.g. training purposes or for flow investigations.