3D Vascular Replicas Composed of Elastomer-Hydrogel Skin Multilayers for Simulation of Endovascular Intervention

Abstract

Multilayered 3D vascular replicas incorporating the complementary advantages of elastomers and hydrogels can serve as a training platform to realistically simulate endovascular intervention, the preferred therapeutic procedure for cardio-cerebrovascular disease. However, the fabrication process is challenging because of the difficulty in uniformly coating a thin hydrogel layer only on the inner surface of tortuous 3D vascular replicas composed of an elastomer monolayer. This study proposes an effective strategy to design and produce high-fidelity 3D vascular replicas composed of elastomer-hydrogel multilayers by coating hydrogel polymers with robust interfaces only on the inner surface of the elastomer monolayer. The thin hydrogel layer can impart soft surface elasticity, lubricity, and superaerophobicity to the elastomer monolayer with high bulk elasticity, with deionized water alone as the circulating liquid, without the aid of additional lubricants. Owing to the complementary properties of the elastomers and hydrogels, multilayered 3D vascular replicas facilitate the control of medical devices and internal circulation of fluids, enabling realistic simulations of endovascular intervention under optical images in addition to X-ray angiography. Furthermore, through practice courses, neurosurgeons demonstrated that the multilayered 3D vascular replicas are a reasonable platform for developing hand-eye coordination with pre-procedure simulations and case-specific training on demanding surgical sites.