Active Heart, Stroke & Blood Bones, Joints & Muscles

A computational investigation of post-operative in-graft thrombus formation in the repaired aorta

Funder EPSRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation University of Strathclyde
Funding Not disclosed
Period Mar 2025 — Aug 2028

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

After a surgeon repairs a torn aorta with a fabric graft, blood clots can form inside the graft and block flow—this project uses computer models and 3D-printed arteries to figure out why. The problem is that current graft designs do not perfectly mimic the natural shape and flow of a healthy aorta. Turbulence and stagnant blood inside the graft create conditions where clots form, sometimes weeks after surgery. This is a known risk, but surgeons have no reliable way to predict which patients will develop clots or which graft design will work best for a given anatomy. The research combines computational fluid dynamics with physical bench-top models built from patient CT scans. The team will test different graft shapes and measure how blood flows through them under pulsatile conditions, then use those measurements to optimise the design. If successful, the work could give surgeons a tool to match graft geometry to a patient’s specific aortic shape before surgery, reducing clot risk. It could also improve patient selection—identifying who is likely to benefit from endovascular repair and who might need a different approach. The project is applied engineering, not fundamental science, with a clear pathway to clinical testing through the industrial partner Terumo Aortic.

View original technical description
This project will study the haemodynamics of aortae prior to and following endovascular repair and the conditions that may lead to post-operative thrombus formation. The work will include optimisation of vascular prosthesis designs to enable the best-possible flow characteristics within the grafts, including post-surgical vascular perfusion results. This investigation could further be used to understand patient-specific anatomical geometry and graft design effects and aid in patient selection/risk-benefit analysis for more effective personalised treatment. Depending on time and availability, pressure sensors and flow meters may be used in an in-vitro experimental setup in the Research and Development (R&D) laboratory of Terumo Aortic, using realistic anatomies 3D-printed from CT scans and vascular graft designs, in order to measure the blood flow characteristics of the aorta and its branches. These methods may then be used to take measurements on bench top arterial models under pulsatile flow. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods may then also be used to create models of the vascular system to investigate the optimal blood flow conditions for mimicking native physiological perfusion and providing turbulence free blood flow. Physical prototypes of the optimised designs may be tested in a vascular flow model with flow measurement techniques in order to demonstrate the functional improvements gained through the capabilities developed.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Seyedmilad Mousavi (Student)

Related Research

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Development of a Novel Flow Field Augmentation Technique to Improve the Patency of Distal Graft Anastomosis
Systematic Assessment of Competitive Flow in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts by Wave Intensity Analysis

Original classification

Studentship

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