The carotid arteries supply the head and neck with oxygenated blood. As people age, the carotid artery can narrow due to atherosclerosis, called stenosis, or a bulge can form in the wall of one of the carotid arteries, called an aneurysm. As people with carotid stenosis or aneurysm are at risk of brain damage, they have to be treated when symptoms are present. Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is a technique that increases the blood flow by inserting a stent. However, this intervention can still be enhanced by technical improvements in stent delivery and design. A new technique using ultrasound has been developed to study the effects of stent placement on the blood velocity and duplex.
Validation with ultrasound technique for acquiring high-frame-rate contrast-enhanced images of stented arteries is essential before it can be applied clinically. It has already been validated on an in vitro steady flow model of a carotid artery. However, in order to obtain more reliable results the flow of the circuit must be pulsatile as this is more anatomically correct.