Descripción del proyecto
Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) is the leading cause of death and disability globally. In 2017, 1.12 million people suffered from a stroke in European Union, and it is expected to increase by 27% in 2047. The AIS occurred due to insufficient blood supply to the brain from blockage of blood clots or thrombus. Restoration of the blood supply to the brain is the primary objective of medical treatment after the detection of AIS. This can be done using recently developed minimally invasive Endovascular Stroke Treatment (EVT). The introduction of EVT to clinical trials in 2012 revolutionised stroke treatment, but nearly 65% of patients face post-treatment complications and disabilities. Such complications show a huge void in improving the EVT treatment using in silico and in vitro approaches.
The current project (VThrombectomy) proposes a framework for mimicking the EVT procedure using in silico approach. The EVT consists of three major components: stent retriever, blood clot, and flexible blood vessel. Mimicking these components for numerical simulations and understanding the mechanical forces involved is the primary objective of this project. In which, Patient-based images will be used to mimic the cerebral arterial network, and mechanical properties of thrombus will be replicated using patient-based clot stress-strain data. The development of a virtual thrombectomy procedure will take place by solving these components using a multiphysics approach in a coupled way. The major limitations involved in the previous studies were the use of an ideal cerebral artery model with rigid walls and the absence of blood flow during EVT. VThrombectomy proposes to address these limitations by the inclusion of patient-specific flexible blood vessels with flowing blood. Parametric analysis of EVT using in silico approach can dive deep into the treatment and improves our understanding of the mechanical forces involved, which results in improved and efficient devices to retrieve the clot.