Dr Cui representing the team to receive the award at the World Engineering Summit 2021 Conference Dinner             Photo credit: The Institution of Engineers, Singapore

Thoracic aortic diseases such as aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm, and aortic ulcer are common and often associated with high mortality, with studies revealing the range of 10 new aneurysms per 100,000 person-years. The Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) by stent grafting treatment has provided a lower operative mortality and morbidity solution than conventional open repair that requires opening the chest and cross-clamping of the aorta, and sometimes even heart or lung bypass support. However, there were challenges faced requiring additional hybrid open bypass with higher morbidity or unsatisfactory outcomes.

A group of researchers from A*STAR's Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) engineered an innovative stent-graft design that incorporated several new features, allowing better conformability between stent-graft and aortic wall at various curvatures and preserving all supra-aortic branches and stable, accurate deployment. The team then performed computer simulations, bench studies, and pilot animal testing to evaluate and optimise the performance of new stent-graft designs.