A computational wall mechanics study of an ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm under hypertensive conditions

Abstract

A wall mechanics study is performed on two human aortic models, reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) image data using the Materialise Mimics software. The first model represents a rare ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (aTAA) case with an excessive aortic ballooning that has displaced the cardiac cavities, and the second one a normal case free of cardiovascular diseases. Special attention was paid for the reconstruction of realistic models that do not deviate from the original data. The study presents the workflow from medical imaging data to structural simulation with the use of various software, aiming to examine the stress state of a normal aorta and an aneurysmal one (both patient specific) under a range of systolic blood pressure loads. Using the FEBio software, the effective (Lagrange) strain and the effective stress (von Mises) distributions are calculated for assessing the risk of rupture or dissection of the aorta.