Development of vascular phantoms for ablation catheter technology optimization

36.9%的人口患有心血管疾病。据估计，美国有400万至500万人患有心房颤动（心律不齐），加拿大约有35万人。一种重要的治疗方法是导管消融位于左心房肺静脉口附近引起心房颤动的不稳定传导细胞。导管消融包括在腹股沟插入导管，经静脉导管进入右心房。右心房和左心房之间的间隔壁穿刺进入肺静脉口。导管尖端提供能量（射频、低温、超声波）来隔离不稳定的导电细胞。然而，导管消融的并发症发生率约为4.5%，包括危及生命的房-食管瘘。该技术的改进需要精确评估定向、定位、接触力和通过组织的导航，并提供能量，以实现所需的隔离，同时避免不必要的穿孔和烧伤/冻结。AgileMV正在开发一种消融导管的辅助装置，该装置有可能提供更好的定位，减少相关的潜在血管损伤，同时减少干预时间，以改善患者的预后，并降低医院/医生的成本。在这个项目中，我们建议使用我们开发的解剖学和生物力学正确的水凝胶血管模型来重现左心房、右心房和腔静脉的特定解剖结构，以优化agile MV设计的生物力学参数，以确保最有利的治疗。我们将使用我们为其他血管结构（升主动脉，AAA）开发的方法，并通过重建腔静脉、右心房和左心房，为Agile的项目定制它。这种方法利用PVA（聚乙烯醇）来重现维管组织的弹性特性。这为测试介入技术提供了真实和可复制的血管幻象。

Cardiovascular diseases affect 36.9% of the population. It is estimated that 4-5 million people are affected byatrial fibrillation (irregular heart beat) in the US and about 350000 in Canada. An important treatment iscatheter ablation of the erratic conductive cells causing the fibrillation, located near the pulmonary veins ostiain the left atrium. Catheter ablation involves the insertion of a catheter in the groin and directed via the venacava into the right atria. The septal wall between the right atrium and the left atrium is punctured to access thepulmonary veins ostia. The catheter tip delivers energy (radio frequency, cryogenic, ultrasound) to isolate theerratic conductive cells. However, catheter ablation is associated with complications rates of about 4.5%including atrio-esophageal fistula, a life threatening condition. Improvement of the technology requires aprecise assessment of the orientation, positioning, contact forces and navigation through the tissue and deliveryof the energy for achieving the desired isolation while avoiding unwanted perforation and burn/freeze. AgileMV is developing an adjunctive device to ablation catheters that has the potential to provide better positioning,reduce associated potential vessel damage while decreasing the intervention time for an improved patientoutcome and lower hospital/physician costs. In this project, we propose to use a methodology that wedeveloped for making anatomically and biomechanically correct hydrogel vascular phantoms to reproduce thespecific anatomy of the left atrium, right atrium and vena cava to optimize the biomechanical parameters ofAgile MV's design to ensure most favorable treatment. We will use an approach that we developed for othervascular structures (ascending aorta, AAA) and customize it for Agile's project by reconstructing the vena cava,right atrium and left atrium. This approach makes uses of PVA (PolyVinyl Alcohol) to reproduce the elasticproperties of vascular tissue. This provides realistic and reproducible vascular phantoms for testinginterventional technology.