Shape Memory Polymer Foam With Tunable Properties for Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysm

Intracranial aneurysms have the potential to be fatal; when detected, they must be treated promptly by surgical clipping or by endovascular methods. The latter, while having better long-term overall survival than the former, fail to provide complete occlusion of the aneurysm lumen, creating risks for therapy-related adverse events, such as embolic device migration or recanalization. Polyurethane shape memory polymers (SMPs) have the potential to provide patient-specific treatment to reduce rates of incomplete occlusion and mass effect. In this study, SMP matrices are infiltrated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to induce electrical conductivity and provide a precise triggering method for deployment of the embolic device. Through thermomechanical characterization of the composite, it was determined that CNTs play a significant role in resistivity of the SMP foam and its ultimate shape recovery properties. Cyclic mechanical testing allowed to determine that CNTs might induce polymeric matrix damage, creating the need for new approaches to CNT infiltration. The studied composite foams were able to occlude an in vitro idealized aneurysm phantom model, which allowed to conclude that the proposed CNT-infiltrated SMP foams exhibit potential as biomedical devices for endovascular therapy of intracranial aneurysms.