Angiovision: Aortic stent-graft placement by augmented angionavigation

The endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (EVAR - EndoVascular Aneurism Repair) has become an alternative therapy to conventional open surgery. The objective of Angiovision project was to contribute to the improvement of EVAR procedures in terms of accuracy and customization of the interventional strategy. Our approach was mainly based on the use of patient-specific data, computer-aided endovascular navigation and numerical simulation. We proposed a new FEM-based patient-specific simulation solution to estimate the deformations caused by the introduction of stiff endovascular devices. We developed and implemented an original endovascular navigation system to augment the intraoperative fluoroscopy with the visualization of deformed preoperative aorto-iliac structure, and related information concerning vessel wall (calcifications), as well as stent-graft virtual deployment. The proposed solution, that requires only lightweight computer equipment, can be used in a standard operating room in order to optimize device placement (from a single angle of incidence). Evaluation is currently under way.