Ascending Aortic Aneurysm Projects

Aortic aneurysms result from the loss of wall integrity due to degenerative structural changes. If left untreated the wall will continue to weaken and can fail suddenly with fatal consequences.

To study how disease progression effects the structure of the ascending aortic wall and the associated mechanical properties.  

Mechanical properties, such as stiffness and strength, are determined from ex vivo testing and compared with structure/protein properties such elastin, collagen, and proteoglycan content, arrangement, and type.

Being able to characterize aortic aneurysm disease progression specifically the mechanical weakening will allow for the medical field to apply more targeted interventions/treatments for aortic aneurysm complications.  

Mechanical properties of aortic tissue is currently characterized through ex vivo testing, requiring tissue to be resected if a mechanical test must be preformed. This testing method greatly limits the application of mechanical behaviour assessments in a clinical setting and the ability to study healthy tissue behaviour.

To determine non-invasive in-vivo biomarkers in the ascending aortic wall that can be associated with current ex vivo mechanical properties and behaviour.    

Mechanical properties, such as stiffness and strength, are determined from ex vivo testing of resected aortic tissue and compared in vivo properties such as regional wall shear stress and strain determined from MRIs of the patient before surgery.

Correlating non-invasive biomarkers with the mechanical properties of the aortic wall will allow for the medical field to track each patient’s aneurysm progression and the associated mechanical weakening through non-invasive imaging and developing patient-specific treatment plans.