Fangsen Cui

ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS OF POLYMERIC GEL STRUCTURES UNDER BUCKLING AND WRINKLE

One of the unique properties of polymeric gel is that the volume and shape of gel can dramatically change even at mild variation of external stimuli. Though a variety of instability patterns of slender and thin film gel structures due to swelling have been observed in various experimental studies, many are not well understood. This paper presents the analytical solutions of swelling-induced instability of various slender and thin film gel structures. We have adopted the well developed constitutive relation of inhomogeneous field theory of a polymeric network in equilibrium with a solvent and mechanical load or constraint with the incremental modulus concept for slender beam and thin film gel structures. The formulas of buckling and wrinkle conditions and critical stress values are derived for slender beam and thin film gel structures under swelling-induced instability using nonlinear buckling theories of beam and thin film structures. For slender beam structure, we construct the stability diagram with the...

Nonlinear Finite Element Simulations to Elucidate the Determinants of Perforator Patency in Propeller Flaps

The propeller-type flap design is increasingly used in reconstructive surgery for various regions of the body. To date, determinants of perforator patency when subjected to twisting have not been elucidated. We propose a simulation model to study parameters affecting perforator patency under such conditions. Nonlinear finite element procedure was used to simulate a perforator consisting of an artery and a vein with both ends fixed. A rigid body was attached to the top of the perforator for applying prescribed angular displacement. The effect of the following parameters on the pedicle patency was determined: (1) increasing angle of twist, (2) vessel stiffness, (3) vessel length, (4) diameter, (5) intraluminal pressure, and (6) the presence or absence of blood flow during twisting. Simulation results were reported in effective stress and strain on the twisted pedicle. In the context of perforator patency, effective strain, which is a measure of vessel deformation or collapse, is the more relevant outcome. The vein was more prone to occlusion because of its weaker wall and lower intraluminal pressure. Four factors that affected perforator patency were identified: angle of twist, intraluminal blood pressure, and perforator diameter and length. There was no significant difference whether twisting was performed prior to or after restoration of blood flow (P > 0.05). Therefore, to optimize condition for maintaining perforator patency, the angle of twist should be kept <180 degrees, perioperative blood pressure should be kept stable (avoiding periods of hypotension), and the selected perforator should be approximately 1 mm in diameter and >30 mm in length. We found that the propeller flap is a feasible design. This study defined the determinants of perforator patency and will serve as a useful guide when performing such flaps.

The effectiveness of floating slab track system — Part I. Receptance methods

Abstract The effectiveness of a floating slab track system to stationary harmonic loads and moving harmonic loads are investigated in this paper by using the receptance method.The results show that the floating slab track system is effective in reducing the forces transmitted at frequencies above the designed frequency compared to the fixed slab track system.

Design and finite element-based fatigue prediction of a new self-expandable percutaneous mitral valve stent

Percutaneous heart valve replacement is currently limited to the replacement of pulmonary and aortic valves in a targeted group of patients. Designing a heart valve for mitral valve replacement is further limited by its distinctive anatomical feature, which places a constraint on its range of design options. To overcome such limitations, the objectives of this study were to use computational modeling and simulation to design a new nitinol-based mitral valve stent and evaluate its crimpability and fatigue behavior. A self-expandable stent with new features that could address the issues of valve migration and paravalvular leaks was generated using the CAD-based conceptual modeling. Its expansion, crimpability, deployment patterns, and fatigue behavior were simulated and analyzed. Our simulations incorporated cyclic cardiac muscle loading, cyclic blood pressure loading, as well as cyclic valve-leaflet forces in the fatigue life assessment for mitral valves. Our results showed that the stent model passed the fatigue test under the aforementioned loading conditions. Our model provides a simple, fast and cost-effective tool to quantitatively determine the fatigue resistance of stent components. This is of great value to the design of new prosthetic heart valve models, as well as to surgeons involved in valve replacement.

A Novel Carotid Covered Stent Design: In Vitro Evaluation of Performance and Influence on the Blood Flow Regime at the Carotid Artery Bifurcation

In the present study, a novel carotid covered stent design has been developed. Prototypes of different geometrical design parameters have been fabricated and their performance has been evaluated in vitro under physiological pulsatile flow condition, utilizing flow visualization (dye injection), and particle image velocimetry techniques. These evaluations include the assessment of emboli prevention capability, side-branch flow preservation, and influence on the branch flow pattern and velocity field. The novel covered stents demonstrated significantly higher emboli prevention capability than the corresponding bare metal stent, while preserving more than 83% of the original flow of the external carotid artery (ECA). Flow in the ECA through these covered stents was uniform without evidence of undesirable flow recirculation and reversed flow that might predispose the vessel wall to post-stenting intimal thickening and atherosclerotic plaque formation. This study demonstrated the potential of these novel covered stent designs for the treatment of carotid atherosclerotic stenosis. However, further computational and in vivo investigations of hemodynamics, biological effects, and mechanical performance of this covered stent design is warranted.

Bifurcation and Chaos in the Duffing Oscillator with a PID Controller

We discuss in this paper the bifurcation, stability and chaos of the non-linear Duffing oscillator with a PID controller. Hopf bifurcation can occur and we show that there is a global stable fixed point. The PID controller works well in some fields of the parameter space, but in other fields of the parameter space, or if the reference input is not equal to zero, chaos is common for hard spring type system and so is fractal basin boundary for soft spring system. The Melnikov method is used to obtain the criterion of fractal basin boundary.

Design considerations and quantitative assessment for the development of percutaneous mitral valve stent

Percutaneous heart valve replacement is gaining popularity, as more positive reports of satisfactory early clinical experiences are published. However this technique is mostly used for the replacement of pulmonary and aortic valves and less often for the repair and replacement of atrioventricular valves mainly due to their anatomical complexity. While the challenges posed by the complexity of the mitral annulus anatomy cannot be mitigated, it is possible to design mitral stents that could offer good anchorage and support to the valve prosthesis. This paper describes four new Nitinol based mitral valve designs with specific features intended to address migration and paravalvular leaks associated with mitral valve designs. The paper also describes maximum possible crimpability assessment of these mitral stent designs using a crimpability index formulation based on the various stent design parameters. The actual crimpability of the designs was further evaluated using finite element analysis (FEA). Furthermore, fatigue modeling and analysis was also done on these designs. One of the models was then coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with leaflets sutured and put to: (i) leaflet functional tests to check for proper coaptation of the leaflet and regurgitation leakages on a phantom model and (ii) anchorage test where the stented valve was deployed in an explanted pig heart. Simulations results showed that all the stents designs could be crimped to 18F without mechanical failure. Leaflet functional test results showed that the valve leaflets in the fabricated stented valve coapted properly and the regurgitation leakage being within acceptable limits. Deployment of the stented valve in the explanted heart showed that it anchors well in the mitral annulus. Based on these promising results of the one design tested, the other stent models proposed here were also considered to be promising for percutaneous replacement of mitral valves for the treatment of mitral regurgitation, by virtue of their key features as well as effective crimping. These models will be fabricated and put to all the aforementioned tests before being taken for animal trials.

EFFECTS OF BALLOON LENGTH AND COMPLIANCE ON VASCULAR STENT EXPANSION

Vascular stents are used to dilate arteries that are narrowed or clogged by plaque. However, in-stent restenosis is still one of the major causes of the clinical failure. It is believed that vessel trauma imposed during stent deployment is closely correlated to restenosis. Clinical observations show that the longitudinal and axial geographic miss in pre/post-dilation are responsible for the vessel trauma. The interactions between the stent-strut and the artery are difficult to measure in vivo or clinically and reported results are very limited. A numerical approach that leverages on computing power can provide new insights into the stent implantation process. In this study, the effects of balloon length and compliance that play important roles during stent expansion were investigated. Areas in the vessels with high stress concentrations were identified as these were weaknesses that might have a high possibility of vascular injury. Two different types of numerical models were constructed: a simplified model that considered only the balloon and stent and a more comprehensive model that consisted of the balloon, stent, plaque, and artery. Virtual stent implantation trials were simulated and the phenomena of stent recoil, dogboning and foreshortening were observed and examined. It was found that balloons which were slightly longer than the stent and less compliance would be more likely to eliminate dogboning. Furthermore, a new parameter, namely the Ectropion angle, was introduced to describe the turning effect of the stent end in situations when dogboning could not adequately characterize this phenomenon. The present study could provide guidance for the placement of stents by clinical practitioners.

Numerical Modeling of Intraventricular Flow during Diastole after Implantation of BMHV

This work presents a numerical simulation of intraventricular flow after the implantation of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve at the mitral position. The left ventricle was simplified conceptually as a truncated prolate spheroid and its motion was prescribed based on that of a healthy subject. The rigid leaflet rotation was driven by the transmitral flow and hence the leaflet dynamics were solved using fluid-structure interaction approach. The simulation results showed that the bileaflet mechanical heart valve at the mitral position behaved similarly to that at the aortic position. Sudden area expansion near the aortic root initiated a clockwise anterior vortex, and the continuous injection of flow through the orifice resulted in further growth of the anterior vortex during diastole, which dominated the intraventricular flow. This flow feature is beneficial to preserving the flow momentum and redirecting the blood flow towards the aortic valve. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to numerically model intraventricular flow with the mechanical heart valve incorporated at the mitral position using a fluid-structure interaction approach. This study facilitates future patient-specific studies.

Characterizing Hypervelocity Impact (HVI)-Induced Pitting Damage Using Active Guided Ultrasonic Waves: From Linear to Nonlinear

Hypervelocity impact (HVI), ubiquitous in low Earth orbit with an impacting velocity in excess of 1 km/s, poses an immense threat to the safety of orbiting spacecraft. Upon penetration of the outer shielding layer of a typical two-layer shielding system, the shattered projectile, together with the jetted materials of the outer shielding material, subsequently impinge the inner shielding layer, to which pitting damage is introduced. The pitting damage includes numerous craters and cracks disorderedly scattered over a wide region. Targeting the quantitative evaluation of this sort of damage (multitudinous damage within a singular inspection region), a characterization strategy, associating linear with nonlinear features of guided ultrasonic waves, is developed. Linear-wise, changes in the signal features in the time domain (e.g., time-of-flight and energy dissipation) are extracted, for detecting gross damage whose characteristic dimensions are comparable to the wavelength of the probing wave; nonlinear-wise, changes in the signal features in the frequency domain (e.g., second harmonic generation), which are proven to be more sensitive than their linear counterparts to small-scale damage, are explored to characterize HVI-induced pitting damage scattered in the inner layer. A numerical simulation, supplemented with experimental validation, quantitatively reveals the accumulation of nonlinearity of the guided waves when the waves traverse the pitting damage, based on which linear and nonlinear damage indices are proposed. A path-based rapid imaging algorithm, in conjunction with the use of the developed linear and nonlinear indices, is developed, whereby the HVI-induced pitting damage is characterized in images in terms of the probability of occurrence.