Development of an in vitro tracking system with poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogel for catheter motion

Vascular diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, infarction, aneurysms, stroke and stenosis are a leading cause of serious long-term disability and their mortality rate is as high as that of cancers in many countries. Recently, neurovascular intervention using catheters is a minimally-invasive endovascular technique used to treat vascular disease of the brain, and a navigation system for catheters has been developed to facilitate surgical planning and to provide intra-operative assistance. Since the mechanical properties of a catheter play an important role in reaching the targeted disease, tracking of catheter movement during endovascular treatment may be useful to increase confirmation of the rate of successful operation. In this study, we developed an in vitro tracking system for catheter motion using poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PVA-H) to mimic an arterial wall. The employed models were made of PVA-H, which is sufficiently transparent to permit observation of catheter movement in the artery. This system is expected to contribute to validation of computer-based navigation systems for surgical assistance.