The most helpful process that technology has blessed us with is the simulation process
Simulation techniques help in reducing the huge amount of costs and time required for research and development of complex treatment procedures and cardiovascular devices.
Let’s go thru the following question and answers step by step, which will clear everything about stenting simulations.
Everything you need to know about stenting simulation
What is a stent?
A stent is a small implant device used to treat narrow or weak arteries. They are usually delivered through a smaller catheter inserted through the skin. Stents get expanded in the heart artery to remove the plaque. This process allows for smooth blood flow. As these devices are used to open various types of body passageways such as blood vessels, bile ducts, bronchi.
What is a stenting simulation?
A simulation is also called a walkthrough drill of the whole process. So the stent simulation is the walkthrough drill for the whole process of deployment of a stent in the artery of the patient. The 3D reconstruction of a mildly stenosed coronary artery is carried out. It is based on a combination of biplane angiography and intravascular ultrasound. And the computations are performed to stimulate the deployment of a stent inside the reconstructed coronary artery.
What are the results we get from the simulation process?
Deformed configurations, pressure-lumen area relationship, and stress distribution in the arterial wall and struts are studied. The simulation shows how the stent pushes the arterial wall towards the outside allowing the expansion of the occluded artery.
From this procedure, we get the data about where the higher stresses in the arterial wall are present behind the stent struts and in the regions where the arterial wall is thin. It is now possible to get accurate enough geometry definitions of structures of interest in most cases. However, patient-specific simulations cannot be performed only by using patient geometry data. In many scenarios, patient-specific blood flow data is also required.
The internal or partner libraries coupled with flow simulation software are used. This enables us to incorporate both patient-specific geometries and flow data in our simulations.
What is the importance of stenting simulation?
The deployment of a stent is a very complex procedure. Moreover, it varies from patient to patient. The internal structure and condition of arteries are sometimes very complex and different in different patients.
So, this method is used to predict the stresses in the stent struts and the vessel wall. Thus it evaluates whether a specific stent design is optimal for a specific patient or not.
How this technique is helpful in the research and development of cardiovascular devices?
Besides cardiovascular treatments, this technique is very important for all the engineers, researchers, and designers who develop cardiovascular devices. All the data collected from the simulation technique is used by these professionals. And it helps them to make further advancements and developments.
The following categories of professionals take the best benefit of the simulation process with the help of companies like Medividia:
Biomedical simulation engineers:
A biomedical engineer responsible to conduct simulation tasks to support R&D and product development. Such engineers can use the simulation approach, tools, and technology for productivity in their work. It can help them to develop new and improved cardiovascular devices. An example of this could be the investigation of the optimum deployment location of a particular heart valve replacement.
Medical design designers/inventors:
Designers can discover simulation-driven device designs or improvements in the designs they have. Without the stenting simulations, it is almost impossible for them to design or invent a cardiovascular device as per the requirements. Because this process helps them to collect all the data they require. As a result, they make efficient designs or new inventions.
First of all, a designer needs to understand the relevant mechanisms and physics. After this, work on a sample case to demonstrate the simulation methodology. In-silico evaluation can vary in complexity. Simple isolated device evaluations are the most efficient ones in the early design phase. So just before or during the animal trials the full-fledged simulations considering the deployment are the most suitable ones.
Medical doctors & cardiologists:
A cardiologist or a medical professional looking for an in-silico solution to foresee the outcomes of a particular intervention. Therefore a medical professional can use Stenting simulations for decision-making or device selection. Without the help of stenting simulations, it is not possible for them to find the right cardiovascular device for the treatment of the patient.
Final Discussion:
Computational structural analyses have emerged in recent years as a tool to study the design of endovascular stents. Simulations of the interaction of stents and the arteria wall have also gained importance in predicting and calculating the stress state generated after such intervention. Such simulations help to apply numerical technologies to patient-specific clinical scenarios.
Also for the advancement or development of new cardiovascular devices, the engineers, designers, and researchers, all depend on simulation techniques completely. It is way too much complex and complicated to develop such medical devices. While there are some modifications and changes are required as per the condition in every case. And these changes can be required in the device and the procedure to carry out the treatment.
What is the conclusion we get?
As in the above question answers and the discussion we have covered all the aspects related to the stenting stimulations. And how the selection or the development of the cardiovascular devices depends on such simulation techniques. So it plays the most important role in the field of medical treatments and the development of medical devices.
And Medividia is a company that is working as a response to the continuously increasing demand for engineering simulations in the medical industry. Their team consists of simulation engineers with decades of experience in various industries and biomedical simulation engineers.
You may be a simulation engineer working on biomedical simulations to support device design. Moreover, Medividia can help you maximize the useful output you can get from engineering simulations. They help you by combining cutting-edge multiphysics simulation technology with the knowledge of human anatomy and psychology.