Non-destructive 3D characterization of the blood vessel wall microstructure in different species and blood vessel types using contrast-enhanced microCT and comparison with synthetic vascular grafts

Leyssens, Lisa;Balcaen, Tim;Pétré, Maïté;Bejar Ayllon, Natalia;Kerckhofs, Greet;et.al.
(2023) Acta Biomaterialia — Vol. 164, p. 303-316 (2023)

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Authors
  • Leyssens, Lisaorcid-logoUCLouvain
    Author
  • Balcaen, Timorcid-logoUCLouvain
    Author
  • Pétré, Maïtéorcid-logoUCLouvain
    Author
  • Bejar Ayllon, NataliaUCLouvain
    Author
  • El Aazmani, WalidUCLouvain
    Author
  • Pyka, GrzegorzUCLouvain
    Author
  • Lacroix, ValérieUCLouvain
    Author
  • Kerckhofs, GreetUCLouvain
    Author
  • et. al.
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Abstract
To improve the current treatment for vascular diseases, such as vascular grafts, intravascular stents, and balloon angioplasty intervention, the evaluation of the native blood vessel microstructure in full 3D could be beneficial. For this purpose, we used contrast-enhanced X-ray microfocus computed tomography (CECT): a combination of X-ray microfocus computed tomography (microCT) and contrast-enhancing staining agents (CESAs) containing high atomic number elements. In this work, we performed a comparative study based on staining time and contrast-enhancement of 2 CESAs: Monolacunary and 1:2 Hafnium-substituted Wells-Dawson polyoxometalate (Mono-WD POM and Hf-WD POM, respectively) for imaging of the porcine aorta. After showing the advantages of Hf-WD POM in terms of contrast enhancement, we expanded our imaging to other species (rat, porcine, and human) and other types of blood vessels (porcine aorta, femoral artery, and vena cava), clearly indicating microstructural differences between different types of blood vessels and different species. We then showed the possibility to extract useful 3D quantitative information from the rat and porcine aortic wall, potentially to be used for computational modeling or for future design optimization of graft materials. Finally, a structural comparison with existing synthetic vascular grafts was made. This information will allow to better understand the in vivo functioning of native blood vessels and to improve the current disease treatments.
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Leyssens, L., Balcaen, T., Pétré, M., Bejar Ayllon, N., El Aazmani, W., de Pierpont, A., Pyka, G., Lacroix, V., Kerckhofs, G., & et al. (2023). Non-destructive 3D characterization of the blood vessel wall microstructure in different species and blood vessel types using contrast-enhanced microCT and comparison with synthetic vascular grafts. Acta Biomaterialia, 164, 303-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2023.04.013 (Original work published 2023)