On the Mechanical Failure of Arterial Prostheses

Nowadays, the use of synthetic grafts to bypass occluded arterial sections is common practice in clinics and hospitals. Success has been achieved in cases involving large diameter blood vessels. However, for arteries with a diameter less than 5 mm, the success rates for synthetic grafts have been low mainly due to intimal hyperplasia formation at anastomoses. The postulated reasons affecting graft failure include compliance mismatch, internal radius mismatch, Young’s modulus, and impedance phase angle. Development of a graft that is mechanically equivalent with a natural artery requires investigation of the mechanics of arteries and possible grafts. Numerical studies can provide information on how selection within existing prostheses can influence the patency rate. A computational model is used to determine design parameters for patient-specific optimal grafts.