A METHOD TO DESIGN CUSTOM-FIT STENT GRAFT FOR ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM

Abdominal Aorta Aneurysm (AAA) affects aorta, especially above the iliac bifurcation where the Wall Shear Stress (WSS) is greater. Consequence may be fatal in case of breakage; a way to treat it is Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR) where a stent graft is placed inside the aorta without open surgery requirement. Because of the standards, stent graft can be chosen between several sizes: in some cases, this device cannot fit perfectly with the anatomy of the patient and this can lead to a not optimal behavior of the prosthesis and further complications. This study present a method to design and test specific custom-fit stent graft able to better adapt to the patient artery improving the efficiency of the prosthesis and reducing the risk of the migration of the graft as well as the fabric torn. The design method is based on a 3D geometric model of the aorta, generated from CT scan data. Centrelines and geometric data for cross sections along the aorta are the inputs necessary to define the mesh of the stent. A custom algorithm is developed to size the stent in relation to the geometric data of the specific patient; when the frame of the prosthesis is defined, a CAD based Loft Surface has used to define surfaces between the stent rings. For the bifurcation, again CAD-based Boundary Surfaces is used. The described procedure has been also applied in a Augmented Virtual Reality simulation of the EVAR and, finally, it permits a CFD simulation to evaluate the behavior of the prosthesis inserted into the aorta.