Kishan Patel

Engineering ExplorationSection 1BME Lab Report

RUID: 158006143

Introduction:
Bioabsorbable Therapeutics, a company founded to develop the next generation of devices to
treat vascular diseases, has developed a new bioabsorbable stent. A bioabsorbable stent is designed from
materials that can dissolve or be absorbed in the body; in particular, Bioabsorbable Therapeutics new
stent is coated with a polymer which will release PolyAspirin, as it degrades over the course of six to
twelve months. PolyAspirin is a drug developed by Dr. Kathryn Uhrich at Rutgers University.
PolyAspirin was originally designed for biodegradable sutures; however, recently it has become
prominent in the making of bioabsorbable stents. This new stent aims to control the post-angioplasty
inflammation effects. An angioplasty is a surgical process or repairing or unblocking of a blood vessel.
The stents will be placed inside blood vessels for several months, thus, they must be able to withstand a
range of blood pressures, ranging from sedentary activities to stress-intensive physical exercises. The
company must be assured that the stents are functioning appropriately. The goals of this experiment were
to determine if the stents were functional, to determine the stress the stents can withstand, and to
determine the stress the stents can place on the surrounding blood vessels. Such scrutiny of the stents was
necessary because if the stents exert too little or too much stress on the surrounding blood vessels the
consequences can be fatal for the patients.
Methodology:

A group of 32 patients who had recently gone an angioplasty procedure was taken, and all

were fitted with the new bioabsorbable stent.

The group of 32 patients was further broken into 4 experimental groups: the Control group,

the Relaxation group, the Physical Activity group, and the Caffeine group.
Each experimental group was assigned an activity, upon completion of which the blood
pressure of the patients was measured and recorded.
o Each patient had his/her blood pressure taken three timesthe average of which was
used in the analysis of this experiment.

Kishan Patel
Engineering ExplorationSection 1BME Lab Report
o

RUID: 158006143

The Control group was assigned no activity other than measuring the BP of the
patients three times. This would establish the precision of the BP machines, and take

o
o

into account other variations which may occur.

The Relaxation group lied down for 2 minutes prior measuring the BP.
The Physical Activity group performed jumping jacks for 60 seconds before

measuring the BP. (Waited 3 minutes before repeating)

The Caffeine group drank a can of soda prior to measuring the BP. (Waited 5 minutes
before repeating)

Results: (These results exclude the data of patients who died due to either hypo- or
hyper tension crisis.)
Graph 1 shows the average Mean Atrial Pressure in units Pascal for each
individual group of patients.

Graph 1
13500

13133.33

13000
12500
12000
Average PMAP (Pascals)

11500

12055.03
11503.7

11217.28

11000
10500
10000
Control

Caffeine

Relaxation

Exercise

Group

Table 1 shows the average PMAP and Hoop Stress values, along with the range of PMAP and Hoop
Stress values.
Average PMAP
11980.44444 Pascal
Lowest PMAP
9911.111111 Pascal
Highest PMAP
14325.92593 Pascal
Average PMAP Hoop Stress
143244.4444 Pascal
Lowest PMAP Hoop Stress
118502.4155 Pascal
Highest PMAP Hoop Stress
171288.2448 Pascal
Table 1
Conclusion:

Kishan Patel
Engineering ExplorationSection 1BME Lab Report

RUID: 158006143

The goal of this experiment was to determine if the stents were functioning
properly, and whether they would be able to withstand the varying range of stresses
exerted upon blood vessels. According to the data collected, it can be inferred the
bioabsorbable stents do function properly. The stents exert a hoop stress of values
between 118502.4155 Pascal and 171288.2448 Pascal. The group doing the
exercise experienced the highest PMAP, while the caffeine group experienced the
lowest PMAP. However, it is important to note that the results only take into account
the BP of alive patients. There were 7 fatalities, 4 due to hypertension crisis and 3
due to hypotension. This indicates that the stents can burst open; resulting in an
intense drop in BP resulting in hypotension, or the stents can succumb to the
pressure exerted by the blood vessels, resulting in an intense rise in BP resulting in
hypertension. In a project such as this bioabsorbable stent, engineers focus on the
mechanics of the project, as well as the development of the stent. Engineers test
the physical aspects of the stent, such as the stress the stent would exert on the
blood vessels, or the stress the blood vessels would exert on the stent. Taking these
tests into consideration, engineers develop the stent with polymers developed by
the scientists. The engineers work with doctors to ensure that the physical aspects
of the stents arent injurious to health of the patients. The engineers also help the
sales process by helping with price configuration. Since they have been involved in
the stents production, they have a better understanding of the production costs of
the stent. Engineers play a critical role in the development of such a project. Also,
according to the data collected, Bioabsorbable Therapeutics bioabsorbable stent
functions properly.