Computational and Experimental Evaluation of Actuating Shape Memory Polymer Foams in the Context of Aneurysm Treatment

Computational and Experimental Evaluation of Actuating Shape Memory Polymer Foams in the Context of Aneurysm Treatment. (April 2010) Edward Karl Hahn III Department of Biomedical Engineering Texas A&M University Research Advisor: Dr. Duncan J. Maitland Department of Biomedical Engineering Shape memory polymer foams may be used to treat vascular aneurysms through thermal actuation of the foam from a compacted to an expanded configuration within the aneurysm structure, thereby alleviating blood pressure on the weakened aneurysm walls and reducing potential for rupture. After delivery to the aneurysm site, fiber-delivered laser light absorbed by the foam structure is converted into thermal energy, and actuation of the foam results. Introduction of nonphysiological energy into the body during foam actuation necessitates an evaluation of potential thermal damage to nearby tissue. In the present investigation, the foam is idealized as a heat-dissipating, volumetrically static object centered in a straight tube of flowing water. Velocity profiles around the heat-dissipating device are acquired experimentally with particle image velocimetry. A computational fluid dynamics package is then used to predict the experimental velocity profiles and temperature distributions by numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes and energy equations, and agreement between the computational solution and experimental