Goal: To develop a cardiovascular virtual population using statistical modeling and computational biomechanics. Methods: A clinical data augmentation algorithm is implemented to efficiently generate virtual clinical data using a real clinical dataset. An atherosclerotic plaque growth model is employed to 3D reconstructed coronary arterial segments to generate virtual coronary arterial geometries (geometrical data). Last, the combination of the virtual clinical and geometrical data is achieved using a methodology that allows for the generation of a realistic virtual population which can be used in in silico clinical trials. Results: The results show good agreement between real and virtual clinical data presenting a mean gof 0.1 ± 0.08. 400 virtual coronary arteries were generated, while the final virtual population includes 10,000 patients. Conclusions: The virtual arterial geometries are efficiently matched to the generated clinical data, both increasing and complementing the variability of the virtual population.

Coronary stents are expandable scaffolds that are used to widen occluded diseased arteries and restore blood flow. Because of the strain they are exposed to and forces they must resist as well as the importance of surface interactions, material properties are dominant. Indeed, a common differentiating factors amongst commercially available stents is their material. Several performance requirements relate to stent materials including radial strength for adequate arterial support post-deployment. This study investigated the effect of the stent material in three finite element models using different stents made of: (i) Cobalt-Chromium (CoCr), (ii) Stainless Steel (SS316L), and (iii) Platinum Chromium (PtCr). Deployment was investigated in a patient specific arterial geometry, created based on a fusion of angiographic data and intravascular ultrasound images. In silico results show that: (i) the maximum von Mises stress occurs for the CoCr, however the curved areas of the stent links present higher stresses compared to the straight stent segments for all stents, (ii) more areas of high inner arterial stress exist in the case of the CoCr stent deployment, (iii) there is no significant difference in the percentage of arterial stress volume distribution among all models.