Abstract
Little attention has been given to the stresses within the wall of bioresorbable vascular prostheses and how they might affect the resorption process. We modeled the graft “complex” (inner tissue capsule, residual graft, and outer tissue capsule) as a three-layered compound tube under internal pressure. Using this biomechanical model, we studied the effects of alterations in the geometry (i. e., radius and thickness) and mechanical properties of each stratum on the overall transmural stress distribution. Hypothetical simulations were performed to investigate the possible-sequence of and alterations in the radial and circumferential stresses during the resorption process. Our results suggest that early in the resorption phase, the inner tissue capsule is subjected to compressive hoop stresses and concentrated, largemagnitude compressive radial stresses. This distribution gives way to the more typical distribution for a thick-walled tube when equilibration (i.e., complete resorption) is approached. The prediction of the compressive stresses in the pseudo-intima during early resorption parallels findings of an elevated mitotic index in that region at that time. This leads to a new hypothesis, namely, that compressive stresses, both in-plane and out-of-plane with respect to the regenerated vascular cells, participate in the resorption process of bioresorbable vascular grafts by modulating elevated cellular proliferative activity and may play an important role in other aspects of vascular cell biology. Results of recent experimentation support this hypothesis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acevedo, A. D., S. S. Bowser, M. E. Gerritsen, and R. Bizios. Morphological and proliferative response of endothelial cells to hydrostatic pressure: Role of fibroblast growth factor.J. Cell. Physiol. 157:603–614, 1993.
Chandran, K. B. Cardiovascular Biomechanics. New York: New York University Press, 1992, 544 pp.
Davies, P., J. C. Forbes-Dewey, S. Bussolari, E. Gordon, and J. M. A. Gimbrone. Influence of hemodynamic forces on vascular endothelial function.J. Clin. Invest. 1973; 1121–1129, 1984.
Fung, Y. C. Biomechanics: Motion, Flow, Stress and Growth, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990, 569 pp.
Gorfien, S. F., F. K. Winston, L. E. Thibault, and E. J. Macarak. Effects of biaxial deformation on pulmonary artery endothelial cells.J. Cell. Physiol. 139:492–500, 1989.
Greisler, H. P., Arterial regeneration over absorbable prostheses.Arch. Surg. 117:1425–1431, 1982.
Greisler, H. P., D. U. Kim, C. Genoglio, J. B. Price, and A. B. Vorhees. Arterial regenerative activity after prosthetic implantation.Arch. Surg. 120:315–323, 1985.
Greisler, H. P., J. Ellinger, T. H. Schwarz, J. Golan, R. M. Raymond, and D. U. Kim. Arterial regeneration over polydioxanone prostheses in the rabbit.Arch. Surg. 122:715–721, 1987.
Greisler, H. P., E. D. Endean, J. J. Klosak, J. Ellinger, J. W. Dennis, K. Buttle, and D. U. Kim. Polyglactin 910/polydioxanone biocomponent totally resorbable vascular prostheses.J. Vasc. Surg. 7:697–705, 1988a.
Greisler, H. P., J. W. Dennis, E. D. Endean, and D. U. Kim, Derivation of neointima of vascular grafts.Circulation (Suppl. I) 78:I6-I12, 1988b.
Greisler, H. P., K. A. Joyce, D. U. Kim, S.M. Pham, S. A. Berceli, and H. S. Borovetz. Spatial and temporal changes in compliance following implantation of bioresorbable vascular grafts.J. Biomed. Mat. Res. 26:1449–1461, 1992.
Greisler, H. P., D. Petsikas, T. M., Lam, N. Patel, J. Ellinger, E. Cabusao, C. W. Tattersall, and D. U. Kim. Kinetics of cell proliferation as a function of vascular graft material.J. Biomed. Mat. Res. 27:955–961, 1993.
Hokanson, D. E., and D. E. Strandness. Stress-strain characteristics of various arterial grafts.Surg. Gynecol. Obstet. 127:57–60, 1968.
Iba T., and B. E. Sumpio. Morphological response of human endothelial cells subjected to cyclic strainin vitro.Microvasc. Res. 42:245–254, 1991.
Ives, C. L., S. G. Eskin, and L. V. McIntire. Mechanical effects on endothelial cell morphology:In vitro assessment.In-Vitro Cell Dev. Biol. 22:500–507, 1986.
Pham, S., S. J. Durham, R. Johnson, D. Showalter, E. D. Endean, D. A. Vorp, D. U. Kim, H. S. Borovetz, and H. P. Greisler. Compliance changes in bioresorbable vascular prostheses following implantation.Surg. Forum 39: 330–332, 1988.
Richardson, P. D.. Mechanical factors in bioresorbable grafts.Bull. NY Acad. Med. 64:132–143, 1988.
Richardson, P. D., A. Parhizgar, H. F. Sasken, T.-H. Chiu, T. Aebischer, L. A. Trudell, and P. M. Galletti. Tissue characterization by micromechanical testing of growths around bioresorbable implants. In: Progress in Artificial Organs—1985, edited by Y. Nosé, C. Kjellstrand, and P. Ivanovich. Cleveland, OH: ISAO Press, 1986, pp. 1015–1019.
Sumpio, B. E.. Hemodynamic forces and the biology of the endothelium: Signal transduction pathways in endothelial cells subjected to physical forcesin vitro.J. Vasc. Surg. 13:744–746, 1991.
Sumpio, B. E., and A. J. Banes. Response of porcine aortic smooth muscle cells to cyclic tensional deformation in culture.J. Surg. Res. 44:696–701, 1988.
Sumpio, B. E., A. J. Banes, L. G. Levin, and G. J. Johnson. Mechanical stress stimulates aortic endothelial cells to proliferate.J. Vasc. Surg. 6:252–256, 1987.
Sumpio, B. E., M. D. Widmann, J. Ricotta, M. A. Awolesi, and M. Watase. Increased ambient pressure stimulates proliferation and morphologic changes in cultured endothelial cells.J. Cell. Physiol. 158:133–139, 1994.
Tokunaga, O., J.-L. Fan, and T. Watanabe. Atherosclerosis and endothelium. Part II: Properties of aortic endothelial and smooth muscle cells cultured at various ambient pressures.Jap. Soc. Pathol. 39:356–362, 1989.
Vawter, D. L.. Poisson's ratio and incompressibility.J. Biomech. Eng. 105:194–195, 1983.
Von Maltzahn, W.-W., D. Besdo, and W. Wiemer. Elastic properties of arteries: A nonlinear two-layer cylindrical model.J. Biomech., 14:389–397, 1981.
Watase, M., M. A. Awolesi, J. Ricotta, and B. E. Sumpio. Effect of pulsatile pressure on bovine smooth muscle cells (abstract).J. Vasc. Surg. 18:538, 1993.
Zenni, G. C., J. L. Gray, E. O. Appelgren, D. U. Kim, S. A. Berceli, J. Ligush, H. S. Borovetz, and H. P. Greisler. Modulation of myofibroblast proliferation by vascular prosthesis biomechanics.ASAIO J. 39:M496-M500, 1993.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vorp, D.A., Raghavan, M.L., Borovetz, H.S. et al. Modeling the transmural stress distribution during healing of bioresorbable vascular prostheses. Ann Biomed Eng 23, 178–188 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02368324
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02368324