ITALY; PhD studentships Design and Testing of Endovascular Medical Devices

PhD studentships
Design and Testing of Endovascular Medical Devices
Dept. of Structural Engineering

www.polimi.it

Laboratory of Biological Structure Mechanics (LaBS)

Applications are invited for two fully-funded, full-time PhD studentships to work in the area of ‘Design and testing of endovascular medical devices’ within MeDDiCA - Medical Devices Design in Cardiovascular Applications, a Marie Curie Initial Training Networks - ITN Project (Call: FP7-PEOPLE-ITN-2008). MeDDiCa partners are: University College London, University of Sheffield, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, University of Amsterdam, Politecnico di Milano, ANSYS UK Ltd, CNRS - Université de Technologie de Compiègne, University of Technology Eindhoven, Istituto Superiore di Sanità Roma, University of Oslo, Philips S&T, Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes hors Equilibre, Invatec S.r.l., Nobil Bio Ricerche S.r.l., Hemolab b.v.

PROJECT 1: Design and development of resorbable stents

This project will contribute to the development of novel biodegradable stents with porous surfaces suitable for the inclusion of a drug. The challenge is to ensure that in vivo degradation will occur at a suitably controlled rate. The effects of different technologies available for stent manufacture (e.g. laser cutting) and coating deposition will be investigated. The study will include: i) in vitro mechanical characterisation of stent materials and structure; ii) numerical simulation of confined stent expansions and iii) experimental assessment of the mechanical properties of stent coatings. The ideal candidate for Project 1 is expected to hold a sound background in computational solid mechanics. Previous experience with experimental material testing will be valued, too.

PROJECT 2: Design and development of drug eluting stents and delivery devices

This project aims to improve the design of innovative drug eluting stents as well as delivery devices and embolic protection systems by exploiting the industrial prototyping facilities at industrial Partners. This project will include: i) numerical simulation of mass drug transport in the coating/reservoir, in the vessel wall and in the bloodstream, ii) numerical simulations of fluid dynamics in the stenotic artery, either in the presence of the stent, or in the presence of a deployed embolic protection system and iii) in vitro testing of catheter and protection system prototypes to identify the mechanical and fluid dynamic parameters of the devices. The ideal candidate for Project 2 is expected to hold a sound background in computational fluid dynamics and mass transport. Previous experience with device in vitro experimental testing will be valued, too.