Development of a High-Fidelity Benchtop Model for Simultaneous Flow, Pressure, and Imaging Assessment of Transarterial Embolization Procedures

Purpose: The development of new endovascular technologies for transarterial embolization has relied on animal studies to validate efficacy before clinical trials are undertaken. Because embolizations in animals and patients are primarily conducted with fluoroscopy alone, local hemodynamic changes are not assessed during testing. However, such hemodynamic metrics could be important indicators of procedure efficacy that could support improved patient outcomes, such as via the determination of procedural endpoints. The purpose of this study is to create a high-fidelity benchtop system for multiparametric (i.e., hemodynamic and imaging) assessment of transarterial embolization procedures.

Methods: The benchtop system consists of a 3D printed, anatomically accurate vascular phantom; a flow loop with a cardiac output simulator; a high-speed video camera; and pressure transducers and flow meters. This system enabled us to vary the heart rate and blood pressure and to simulate clinically relevant hemodynamic states, such as healthy adult, aortic regurgitation, and hypovolemic shock.

Results: With our radiation-free angiography-mimetic imaging system, we could simultaneously assess gauge pressure and flow values during transarterial embolization. We demonstrated the feasibility of recapitulating the digital subtraction angiography workflow. Finally, we highlighted the utility of this system by characterizing the relationship between an imaging-based metric of procedural endpoint and intravascular flow. We also characterized hemodynamic changes associated with particle embolization within a branch of the hepatic artery and found them to be within reported patient data.

Conclusion: Our benchtop vascular system was low-cost and reproduced transarterial embolization-related hemodynamic phenomena with high fidelity. We believe that this novel platform enables the characterization of patient physiology, novel catheterization devices, and techniques.