ECCOMAS 2024

Parameter Optimization of Drug Diffusion Transport Within Axial Symmetric Model for Drug Coating Balloon (DCB) Using Genetic Algorithms

  • Simic, Vladimir (Institute for Information Technologies, Unive)
  • Milicevic, Bogdan (Faculty of Engineering, University of Kraguje)
  • Milosevic, Miljan (Institute for Information Technologies, Unive)
  • Filipovic, Nenad (Bioengineering Research and Development Cente)
  • Kojic, Milos (Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts)

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Peripheral artery disease affects more than 2 hundred million people aged 25 years and older, that is reported in 2015 [1]. This disease occurs due to stenosis, i.e. the presence and buildup of a fatty substance called plaque or atherosclerotic lesions that, by protruding into the arterial lumen, obstruct the blood flow and block the perfusion of the lower limb [2]. Balloon angioplasty, a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is commonly used to treat stenosis. It involves threading a catheter into the narrowed part of the blocked artery. Expanding the balloon on the catheter’s tip pushes the plaque to the side, opening the artery. The procedure damages the wall of the artery, which leads to new tissue growth in the injured wall as the artery heals, after which endothelium covers the site, resulting in restenosis (also caused by atherosclerosis). Despite the demonstrated benefits of computational methodology, to assess the safety, implementation, and performance of DCBs, only a few studies have considered drug transport following release from DCBs [3, 4] and its application in superficial femoral arteries (SFAs). Furthermore, all of these studies are inherently limited by their consideration of a highly- simplified two- dimensional (2D) vessel geometry. Regarding all aforementioned aspects, it would be feasible to develop a computational model that can simulate several phases during the implementation of DCBs, as well as the drug release process from the coated balloon. We present a 2D solid-fluid model that can simultaneously solve fluid flow (which can give us an insight into the washout process after the DCB is removed), solid mechanics (interaction between balloon and artery wall), and drug release transport. The computational model consists of a plate that mimics an expandable balloon. The capillary wall is modeled using two segments: plaque and healthy wall. The expandable balloon (modeled as a rigid body mimicked with using linear elastic material) is inflating, compressing the plaque and the wall, and releasing the drug from the drug coating. Genetic algorithms were used to determine suitable transport diffusion coefficients within different model domains (healthy and diseased walls). This modeling perspective will subsequently offer a new problem-solving approach and the potential to generate a model of tissue growth due to additional plaque growth (atherosclerosis).