Angiographic imaging evaluation of patient-specific bifurcation-aneurysm phantom treatment with pre-shaped, self-expanding, flow-diverting stents: feasibility study.

Aneurysm treatment using flow diversion could become the treatment of choice in the near future. While such side-wall aneurysm treatments have been studied in many publications and even implemented in selected clinical cases, bifurcation aneurysm treatment using flow diversion has not been addressed in detail. Using angiographic imaging, we evaluated treatment of such cases with several stent designs using patient-specific aneurysm phantoms. The aim is to find a way under fluoroscopic image guidance to place a low-porosity material across the aneurysm orifice while keeping the vessel blockage minimal. Three pre-shaped self-expanding stent designs were developed: the first design uses a middle-flap wing stent, the second uses a two-tapered-wing-ended stent, and the third is a slight modification of the first design in which the middle-flap is anchored tightly against the aneurysm using a standard stent. Treatment effects on flow were evaluated using high-speed angiography (30 fps) and compared with the untreated aneurysm. Contrast inflow was reduced in all the cases: 25% for Type 1, 63% for type 2 and 88% for Type 3. The first and the second stent design allowed some but substantially-reduced flow inside the aneurysm neck as indicated by the time-density curves. The third stent design eliminated almost all flow directed at the aneurysm dome, and only partial filling was observed. In the same time Type 1 and 3 delayed the inflow in the branches up to 100% compared to the untreated phantom. The results are quite promising and warrant future study.