ENDOCOM: Implantable wireless pressure sensor for the follow-up of abdominal aortic aneurysm stented

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a dilatation of the aorta at the abdominal level, the rupture of which is a life threatening complication with an 80% mortality rate. Even though those devices keep improving, the failure rate of the endovascular treatment is due to persisting pressure into the excluded aneurysmal sac. Since 2005, several integrated sensors have been designed for the follow-up of the AAA treated by a stent. Solutions are based on the use of a single sensor. Thrombus in the excluded AAA can modify the field of pressure when leaks appeared and a network of sensors should be used. We present in this paper the ENDOCOM project that aims to design an implantable pressure sensor that can be used in a network configuration. To validate the new materials, we developed a framework composed of in vitro experiments and in vivo tests on large animal model. Numerical modeling has been investigated from the experimental data to determine the optimal position of sensor. Some results of those different parts are shown in this paper. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.