Balloon Angioplasty is a medical procedure that is performed to improve blood flow in arteries. A device with a small balloon on its tip is inserted through an artery in your leg or arm and threaded through arteries until it reaches an area with calcified plaque. The balloon is then inflated until the plaque breaks apart – but the pressure from the balloon can cause dangerous artery dissection or perforation.

I took charge of a project through the Michigan Biomedical Manufacturing and Design Lab to build a prototype device that was able to pulsate pressure at very high rates. In theory, the plaque would fatigue due to repetitive stress, thus leading it to break apart at a lower peak pressure. A lower peak pressure would reduce the risk or arteries tearing or perforating, making the procedure safer.

I prototyped a device that used a DC motor and a linkage to pulsate pressure at rates up to 60Hz. I designed the device in SolidWorks, 3D printed the components, and iterated on the design to make it more robust. I also built a sensor array that recorded both the static peak pressure and the rate of change, and programmed the array to record data using LabVIEW. The peak pressure could be adjusted by changing the volume of air in a syringe. Early testing indicated that fatiguing the plaque could reduce the pressure needed.