Biomechanical risk assessment of blood vessels

Regardless clinical events are often related to Damage and Failure (DaF) of vascular tissue, surprisingly little is known concerning the multi-scale biomechanical mechanisms ultimately resulting in tissue rupture.

The exploration and modeling of said mechanisms has the potential to prioritize vascular patients for clinical interventions, thereby optimizing the current health care.

We plan the in-vitro experimental characterization of pathological vascular tissue at supraphysiological loading towards the design of computational models that allow a patient-specific risk assessment. Our activities concern diseased carotids and aneurysmatic aortas.

All actions are implemented through a tight interaction of the tissue biomechanics research group at the Department of Engineering Mechanics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and the Department of Vascular Surgery at Karolinska Institute and University Hospital (KI).

This translational research effort builds upon existing research results and complements synergistically with other activities in our groups, guaranteeing the efficiency of the action.

In addition to uncovering DaF mechanisms in vascular tissue, the proposed integration of heterogenous data (biomechanical, clinical, molecular, and morphological data) is also unseen in the risk prediction of vascular pathologies.

In conclusion, with this reserach we expect to provide novel information to support personalized treatment decisions for vascular patients.