Finite element analysis for mechanics of guiding catheters in transfemoral intervention

Abstract

Background During the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), the strong backup support of a guiding catheters is essential in reaching a target coronary lesion successfully. Nevertheless, it is difficult to explore the mechanics of a guiding catheter by analytical and experimental methods due to its complex deformation and interactions among guiding catheter, guide wire, and artery. In this study, the finite element method was used to analyze the backup support of a guiding catheter in transfemoral intervention (TFI). Methods A finite element model was established in the light of geometric, mechanical properties of the guiding catheter and boundary con ditions. To validate the finite element model, an arterial tree model was constructed to measure the backup force of the guiding catheters in TFI. Then, the process of the guiding catheter disengaged from the ostium was analyzed. Results The influencing rules of the geometric parameters of the guiding catheter on its backup support in TFI were obtained with the help of the finite element model. The result shows that the larger the outer diameter and wall thickness, the greater the backup support, 2.0 to 2.3 mm of the outer diameter was suggested. When designing a guiding catheter, it is wise to avoid α, the angle between the line and wall of the artery, being within 60° and 75° and it is a better choice if the contact length is between 5 and 12 mm. Conclusions This study sought to investigate the influencing rules of the geometric parameters of the guiding catheter on its backup support in transfemoral intervention. A finite element model for analyzing the backup support of a guiding catheter was validated by experiments. It indicated that the finite element method can analyze the varied laws of the guiding catheter with different geometric parameters.

Stability of navigation in catheter-based endovascular procedures

“…Most devices used in endovascular surgery are coated with lubricious films designed to minimize friction [48]. This results in frictional energy dissipation on the order of 0.1 J/m [48,49], while elastic energy storage due to bending is on the order of 1 J/m [49]. Since the energy associated with bending dominates, we limited our analysis to consider only the elastic bending energy of the devices.…”

Combined stent-retriever and aspiration intra-arterial thrombectomy performance for fragmentable blood clots: A proof-of-concept computational study

“…On the contrary, the DAC with a diameter of 1.8 mm was discretized with quadrilateral deformable shell elements since it is retrieved with the stent. An orthotropic linear elastic model was adopted for the DAC in order to have a higher circumferential stiffness with respect to the longitudinal one (Wang et al, 2019), mimicking the braided metallic-reinforce real DAC device (the material parameters are listed in Appendix 2). A mass proportional damping of 1 s − 1 was applied to the DAC model.…”