Abstract
The goal of this thesis is to elaborate on the diagnostics and treatment of carotid artery stenosis and extracranial carotid aneurysm. This is done by improving stenosis degree measurements and developing methods for in vitro blood flow studies to study the effects of stenting.
The first part of this thesis focuses on the diagnostic part of carotid artery disease, where a clinical problem of interobserver variability in stenosis degree measurement in calcified arteries is taken into consideration. In chapter 2 we show that our semi-automatic algorithms overcome manual intervention in outlining the vessel border to determine the smallest diameter, which might improve the clinical workflow in determining the stenosis degree.
The second part of this thesis focuses on the stenting of diseased carotid arteries. Chapter 3 describes an extensive literature review on these topics to create an overview of possibilities and guidance for conducting in vitro flow studies in a carotid artery model.
In Chapter 4, we propose a workflow from design to echoPIV (a novel ultrasound technique) measurements in an extracranial carotid artery aneurysm model, which we compared to fully resolved simulations in the same simplified model.
In Chapter 5, we elaborate on echoPIV measurements in a carotid artery model. The aim is to investigate the performance of echoPIV in a stented model. We concluded that the stent caused a decrease in signal intensities of the contrast agent. However, the quality of the ultrasound measurement is still sufficient to perform PIV analysis in the stented part of the vessel.
We continue studying blood flow conditions in vitro in a carotid artery model in Chapter 6. We aimed to design and fabricate a tissue-mimicking bifurcation model in a setup suitable for echoPIV measurements. Additionally, validate the setup by exploratory measurements. Validation measurements show a maximum deviation of 3% from the desired pulsatile flow pattern. Stationary flow experiments resulted in a change of flow patterns in the ECA directly downstream of the stent. These exploratory measurements show the difficulties in simulated flow studies and the potential for using in vitro techniques to understand the effects of stenting on blood flow characteristics.
The first part of this thesis focuses on the diagnostic part of carotid artery disease, where a clinical problem of interobserver variability in stenosis degree measurement in calcified arteries is taken into consideration. In chapter 2 we show that our semi-automatic algorithms overcome manual intervention in outlining the vessel border to determine the smallest diameter, which might improve the clinical workflow in determining the stenosis degree.
The second part of this thesis focuses on the stenting of diseased carotid arteries. Chapter 3 describes an extensive literature review on these topics to create an overview of possibilities and guidance for conducting in vitro flow studies in a carotid artery model.
In Chapter 4, we propose a workflow from design to echoPIV (a novel ultrasound technique) measurements in an extracranial carotid artery aneurysm model, which we compared to fully resolved simulations in the same simplified model.
In Chapter 5, we elaborate on echoPIV measurements in a carotid artery model. The aim is to investigate the performance of echoPIV in a stented model. We concluded that the stent caused a decrease in signal intensities of the contrast agent. However, the quality of the ultrasound measurement is still sufficient to perform PIV analysis in the stented part of the vessel.
We continue studying blood flow conditions in vitro in a carotid artery model in Chapter 6. We aimed to design and fabricate a tissue-mimicking bifurcation model in a setup suitable for echoPIV measurements. Additionally, validate the setup by exploratory measurements. Validation measurements show a maximum deviation of 3% from the desired pulsatile flow pattern. Stationary flow experiments resulted in a change of flow patterns in the ECA directly downstream of the stent. These exploratory measurements show the difficulties in simulated flow studies and the potential for using in vitro techniques to understand the effects of stenting on blood flow characteristics.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 13 Sept 2024 |
Place of Publication | Enschede |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 978-90-365-6208-9 |
Electronic ISBNs | 978-90-365-6209-6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2024 |