Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Dynamic In Vitro Model Of A Stented Blood Vessel To Evaluate The Effects Of Stent Strut Material Selection And Surface Coating On Smooth Muscle Cell Response, Bradley Winn

All Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in The United States and Europe, accounting for approximately half of all deaths. The most common form of cardiovascular disease is atherosclerosis, which is characterized by the formation of fatty atheromatous plaques that can grow to occlude the vessel lumen, thus causing ischemia distal to the occlusion. This is commonly treated using balloon angioplasty, which is usually done in conjunction with the deployment of a stent. Stent deployment helps hold the vessel open following the local injury caused by balloon inflation and prevents elastic recoil and subsequent negative remodeling. Stenting has been …

The Effect Of Biomechanical And Biochemical Factors On Endothelial Cells: Relevance To Atherosclerosis, Qiuquan Guo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Microscale technologies create great opportunities for biologists to unveil cellular or molecular mechanisms of complex biological processes. Advanced measuring techniques, like atomic force microscope (AFM), allow detecting and controlling biological samples at high spatial and temporal resolution. Further integration with microsystems, such as microfluidic platforms, gives the ability to get detailed insight into basic biological phenomena. Highly integrated microdevices show great promise for biomedical research and potential clinical applications.

It is hypothesized that biomechanical factors play a significant role in the development of vascular diseases like atherosclerosis. To explore effects of biomechanical and biochemical stimuli on endothelial cells (ECs), AFM, …