Identifying Indices of Vulnerability in the Aneurysmal Abdominal Aorta

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is the pathological dilatation of the abdominal aorta that can grow silently and rupture without warning. Over time, the vessel wall becomes weaker as inflammatory processes take over and the microarchitecture is compromised. 

The aim of this project is to characterize the histological and immunohistochemical traits that accompany structural wall degeneration in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) using a consortium of mechanical and morphological tests such as: uniaxial tensile testing, planar biaxial tensile testing, immunohistochemistry, aortic composition via histological colorimetric analysis, and SHG/2 photon microscopy.

Understanding the behaviour of the aneurysm wall at the macro and microscopic level can help elucidate the rupture potential of the vessel taking into account patient-specific and region-specific parameters.