Experiment and smooth particle hydrodynamics simulation of debris size in grinding of calcified plaque in atherectomy

This research studies the debris size in grinding of hardened calcified plaque inside the artery. Experiments for grinding of bone surrogate for calcified plaque at 135,000, 155,000 and 175,000 rpm using a 2.5 mm diameter diamond wheel were conducted and the debris size was measured by laser scattering. The smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation was developed to predict the debris size in grinding. Experimental results showed that debris size matched well by the SPH grinding simulation with a 0.91 Pearson correlation coefficient. The debris size was generally smaller than 40 μm and decreased with higher wheel speeds.