Characterization of the stent-grafts performance in abdominal aortic aneurysms
Abstract
Since the introduction of endovascular techniques in the early 1990s for the
treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), the insertion of a stent-graft (SG) into
the affected artery segment has been greatly successful for a certain group of AAA patients
and is continuously evolving. However, although minimally invasive aneurysm repair is
very attractive, post-operative complications may occur. The purpose of this paper is
studying the effectiveness of stent geometry in terms of protecting the weak wall of an
aneurysm sack from the impact of blood flow. Two dimensional model of a simplified
aneurysm model was constructed with and without SG which have same parameter by
using Solidworks2005. Blood flow was simulated across the aneurysm sack using
(Engineering Fluid Dynamics) EFD. Lab7 software. The results showed a slight increase in
pressure within the aneurysm region under simulated blood flow. When SG was introduced,
the pressure at the aneurysm site was reduced. This study confirms the effectiveness of the
aneurysm repair in terms of protecting the blood vessel from a possible rupture.