Development of a patient-specific model of the human coronary system for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty balloon catheter training and testing

To treat stenosed coronary arteries, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) balloon catheters must combine pushability, trackability, crossability, and rewrap behavior. The existing anatomic track model (ASTM F2394) for catheter testing lacks 3D morphology, vessel tortuosity, and compliance, making evaluating performance characteristics difficult. This study aimed to develop a three-dimensional patient-specific phantom (3DPSP) for device testing and safe training for interventional cardiologists.

A range of silicone materials with different shore hardnesses (00–30–45 A) and wall thicknesses (0.5 mm, 1 mm, 2 mm) were tested to determine compliance for creating coronary vessel phantoms. Compliance was assessed using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and compared to values in the literature. Stenosis was induced using multilayer casting and brushing methods, with gypsum added for calcification. The radial tensile properties of the samples were investigated, and the relationship between Young’s modulus and compliance was determined. Various methods have been introduced to approximate the friction between silicone and real coronary vessel walls. Computerized tomography (CT) scans were used to obtain patient-specific anatomy from the femoral artery to the coronary arteries. Artery lumens were segmented from the CT scans to create dissolvable 3D-printed core models.

A 15A shore hardness silicone yielded an experimental compliance of 12.3–22.4 \(\frac{m{m}^{2}}{mmHg}\cdot {10}^{3}\) $\frac{m{m}^2}{\mathit{mmHg}}·{10}^3$ for stenosed tubes and 14.7–57.9 \(\frac{m{m}^{2}}{mmHg}\cdot {10}^{3}\) $\frac{m{m}^2}{\mathit{mmHg}}·{10}^3$ for uniform tubes, aligning closely with the literature data (6.28–40.88 \(\frac{m{m}^{2}}{mmHg}\cdot {10}^{3}\) $\frac{m{m}^2}{\mathit{mmHg}}·{10}^3$ ). The Young’s modulus ranged from 43.2 to 75.5 kPa and 56.6–67.9 kPa for the uniform and calcified materials, respectively. The dependency of the compliance on the wall thickness, Young’s modulus, and inner diameter could be shown. Introducing a lubricant reduced the silicone friction coefficient from 0.52 to 0.13. The 3DPSP was successfully fabricated, and comparative analyses were conducted among eight commercially available catheters.

This study presents a novel method for crafting 3DPSPs with realistic mechanical and frictional properties. The proposed approach enables the creation of comprehensive and anatomically precise setups spanning the right femoral artery to the coronary arteries, highlighting the importance of such realistic environments for advancing medical device development and fostering safe training conditions.