Numerical and experimental techniques for the study of biomechanics in the arterial system

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in Western society. Complications arise throughout the cardiovascular system with the arterial sub-system being prone to atherosclerosis and aneurysm formation. Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by the deposition of lipoproteins in the arterial wall while an aneurysm is characterized by an abnormal swelling of the wall itself. Medical therapy, comprising life-style changes and drug administration is the mainstay of treatment for the majority of people with arterial vascular disease. However, a variety of surgical interventions are available to treat diseases associated with the arterial system and the primary objective of such interventions is to restore normal arterial function. These treatments may be performed using open surgery or minimally invasive techniques and are biomechanical in nature. A range of numerical and experimental techniques has been developed to quantify and qualify disease-influencing biomechanical factors in the arterial system. These techniques may be used to perform basic research on disease forming mechanisms, to diagnose disease in vivo and to assess or develop new biomedical treatments. The techniques presented in this chapter are applied for various purposes at different locations in the arterial system using an integrated research and development approach. The chapter concludes with a discussion on new medical devices currently under development in order to demonstrate how numerical and experimental methods may be applied in the search for new and improved treatments for arterial disease.