MEED
Place du Levant 2/L5.04.02
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Doctorante UCL
MEED
Place du Levant 2/L5.04.02
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are still the leading cause of death worldwide. Treatment options such as balloon angioplasty often fail. One reason for this failure is that the treatment applies too high mechanical forces for the vascular tissue, inducing inflammation and re-obstruction of the blood vessel, named restenosis. However, the exact mechanism by which restenosis develops is still not fully understood. One hypothesis is that the treatment causes an alteration in the tissue microstructure. To investigate this hypothesis, my PhD thesis aims to combine advanced 3D imaging and computational modelling, leading to more biofidelic models. The first objective is to create a database of microstructural properties of healthy & diseased vascular tissues. For this, we will use 3D contrast-enhanced microfocus computed tomography (CECT). Using this database, a microstructureinspired model will be created via a multiscale approach starting from a representative volume element (RVE). The RVE will be parametrized, enabling adaptation of the microstructural parameters to understand how they influence the mechanical behavior. Finally, to calibrate and validate the model, macro- and microscale mechanical tests will be performed. For the latter, 4D-CECT will be used, which combines in-situ mechanical loading with CECT imaging. The combined imaging and modeling approach of this PhD project will improve the insights into the failure mechanisms of some of the treatments for CVDs.
Pétré, Maïté ; Balcaen, Tim ; El Aazmani, Walid ; Pyka, Grzegorz ; Fehervary, Heleen ; Famaey, Nele ; Kerckhofs, Greet. Effect of X-ray contrast-enhancing staining agents on the mechanical properties of blood vessels.. Tomography for Scientific Advancement society conference (ToScA) (London, UK, du 06/09/2022 au 09/09/2022).
Pétré, Maïté ; Ghasemi, Milad ; Vervenne, Thibault ; Pyka, Grzegorz ; Kerckhofs, Greet ; Cox, Martijn ; Fehervary, Heleen ; Fameay, Nele. Image-based mechanical modeling of an electrospun scaffold. 7th International Conference on Computational and Mathematical Biomedical Engineering (Milan, Italy, du 27/06/2022 au 29/06/2022).
Leyssens, Lisa. Optimization of contrast-enhanced microCT for vascular applications. 5th International Conference on Tomography of Materials and Structures (Grenoble, du 27/06/2022 au 01/07/2022).
Pétré, Maïté ; Leyssens, Lisa ; El Aazmani, Walid ; Balcaen, Tim ; Fehervary, Heleen ; Famaey, Nele ; Kerckhofs, Greet. Screening of contrast-enhancing staining agents for 4D contrast-enhanced microCT of vascular tissues. World Conference of Biomechanics (Tapei, Tawain, du 10/07/2022 au 14/07/2022).
Leyssens, Lisa ; Pétré, Maïté ; Kerckhofs, Greet. Optimization of MicroCT and CECT for Cardiovascular Applications. 17th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering and the 5th Conference on Imaging (Online, du 07/09/2021 au 09/09/2021).
Leyssens, Lisa ; Kerckhofs, Greet. Optimization of microCT and CECT for cardiovascular applications. ToScA (Online, du 01/09/2021 au 03/09/2021).