Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Catheter Efficacy Test Setup

Project Goal: Design and develop a high-efficacy test fixture that enables verification and validation activities of Chronic Total Occlusion, or CTO, catheters to target and treat peripheral arterial disease.

Approximately 20,000 U.S. residents will be diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease chronic total occlusion in 2021,andabout 15,000 patients will receive a thrombectomy procedure. Thrombectomy devices, used to clear clots and occlusions, need to be tested to make sure they work correctly.

The team designed a Peripheral Arterial Disease Efficacy Test Setup, or PADTS, which enables verification and validation activities for medical device testing. It simulates an actual vascular system, including vascular tissue, occlusions formed during fluid flow and the ability to introduce IV catheters. The system allows the user to set, monitor and regulate the testing parameters for temperature, flow and pressure.

The PADTS has three major subsystems. The circulation model assembly simulates human vasculature as a closed loop control system. The mechanical assembly has a modular design, which allows the system to test various anatomical models. The software assembly provides a user interface to set and monitor the system parameters.