Abdominal Aneurysm of the Aorta (AAA) is a degenerative disease of the last segment of the abdominal aorta, representing the 14th leading cause of death for the 60 to 85 year-old age group in US. An estimated 80 million people aged 60 years and older are at risk in Western Europe. To date the most commonly used clinical protocol for surgical acceptance is based on the estimate of AAA diameter. The report prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality came to the conclusion that: the annual risk of rupture is 1% or lower for a diameter less than 5.5 cm; the 1-year risk of rupture increases with the aneurysm size; it may exceed 10% in the individuals with diameters above 6 cm.
Assessment of AAA rupture risk has long been a topic of interest in clinical research setting. The ability to estimate patient specific probability of AAA rupture can lead to reduced health care costs, adequate and timely patient diagnostic and comfort.
Math4AAArisk has developed a mathematical platform to support clinicians through the following steps: (A1) Personalized and automatic characterization of sizing and morphological features of AAA, (A2) Computer simulation of mechanical and fluid-dynamical quantities (such as wall shear stresses and von Mises stresses), (A3) Set up of an automatic surgery planner, (A4) Anonymous data base storage.
The proposed mathematical platform yields quantitative physical indicators in real time at the sole request of inputting a few clinical measurements; it is patient adapted, as it integrates with patient’s radiological images, under full control of clinicians; it is aimed at improving the diagnostic analysis and possibly the surgical planning. The viability for a market exploitation of this platform and the identification of later stage funding opportunities have been explored. In the foreseen exploitation, the platform will be distributed as web or mobile application connected to a remote server component.
A prototype has been made available to selected surgeons and device manufacturers. They unanimously welcome the platform, in particular for its ease of use when carrying out the patients' analysis, the time savings, and the help provided in selecting the best available prosthetic device.
