Development of a stereo dip-coating system for fabrication of tube-shaped blood vessel models

Yasutomo Shimizu,Chihaya Kiyomitsu,Simon Tupin,Ko Kitamura,Kazuto Takashima,Makoto Ohta

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-63718-w

Yasutomo Shimizu, Chihaya Kiyomitsu + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63718-w

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Abstract

Tube-shaped blood vessel models that mimic their geometries and mechanical properties can deliver reliable and realistic behavioral information such as deformation and rupture during procedures such as insertion of medical devices. Thickness of vessel walls is an important parameter for fabricating the blood vessel models owing to their strong influence on the model behavior, especially during deformation. The dip-coating method is used to fabricate blood vessel models; however, non-uniform wall thicknesses are observed using this method. This study aimed at finding the characteristics of stereo “angular control dip-coating” (ACDC) system to develop a dip-coating system that can produce tubular models with uniformed wall thickness. The system developed here enables an observation of the substrate behavior from two different views. The conditions of dip-coating used in this study produce 1.36–1.82 mm in the maximum and 0.188–0.435 mm in minimum wall thickness and the fabricated walls cover the realistic range of carotid arterial dimensions. The characteristics of the ACDC system indicate that ACDC is effective for fabricating the uniform wall thickness particularly in the strong curved parts.

Highlights

Tube-shaped blood vessel models that mimic their geometries and mechanical properties can deliver reliable and realistic behavioral information such as deformation and rupture during procedures such as insertion of medical devices
This study aimed to find the characteristics of stereo “angular control dip-coating” (ACDC) system using substrates with straight and curved parts to develop a dip-coating system that can produce tubular models with uniformed wall thickness
The t value is lower than the critical value and this result indicates there is no significant difference between the ACDC model and the no ACDC model

Summary

Introduction

Tube-shaped blood vessel models that mimic their geometries and mechanical properties can deliver reliable and realistic behavioral information such as deformation and rupture during procedures such as insertion of medical devices. The dip-coating method is used to fabricate blood vessel models; non-uniform wall thicknesses are observed using this method. This study aimed at finding the characteristics of stereo “angular control dip-coating” (ACDC) system to develop a dip-coating system that can produce tubular models with uniformed wall thickness. The tube-shaped models represent realistic geometries and mechanical properties can produce a more realistic behavior, such as deformation and rupture, during the insertion of medical devices. The painting method is a manual-handling technique that requires high technical skills for fabricators to accurately reproduce complex geometries including wall thickness. 3D printing technique has demonstrated potential for fabrication of realistic blood vessel geometries. This technique faces several problems such as processing accuracy and limitations of fabricating geometries[7,8]

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