Investigation on artery calcified plaque grinding mechanism

Haonan Xu; Yao Liu; Huaye Kong; Jinzhu Guo; Bin Shen; Haonan Xu; Yao Liu; Huaye Kong; Jinzhu Guo; Bin Shen

doi:10.3934/medsci.2026003

AIMS Medical Science

2026, Volume 13, Issue 1: 33-49. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2026003

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Research article

Investigation on artery calcified plaque grinding mechanism

1.
Mechanical Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
2.
Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, Zhejiang, Jiaxing 314000, China

Received: 19 August 2025 Revised: 18 February 2026 Accepted: 02 March 2026 Published: 18 March 2026

Plaque grinding is an interventional procedure for removing arterial obstructions using a high-speed rotational device on a flexible driveshaft. Complications have been reported in plaque grinding to limit population of the process. In order to reveal the calcified plaque grinding mechanism inside the artery, a series of experiments were conducted. The wheel motion was identified through high-speed camera observation and grinding marks identification. The effects of rotation speed, wheel diameter, and lumen size on the grinding force and debris size distribution were discussed. The findings demonstrated that the grinding wheel rotates along the guidewire and orbits around the lumen, exhibiting intermittent contact to remove plaque discretely. The complex wheel motion generates an irregular grinding force, which was identified through the implementation of statistical methods based on probability theory. It has been demonstrated that a decrease in wheel diameter and rotation speed and an increase in lumen size can result in a reduction in force. The debris size distribution was found to be primarily influenced by the wheel speed. The elevated wheel speed can result in smaller debris, owing to the reinforced impaction effect. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the plaque grinding, which inform future clinical applications.
- calcified plaque,
- debris size,
- statistical method,
- grinding force,
- orbit
Citation: Haonan Xu, Yao Liu, Huaye Kong, Jinzhu Guo, Bin Shen. Investigation on artery calcified plaque grinding mechanism[J]. AIMS Medical Science, 2026, 13(1): 33-49. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2026003

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Abstract

Plaque grinding is an interventional procedure for removing arterial obstructions using a high-speed rotational device on a flexible driveshaft. Complications have been reported in plaque grinding to limit population of the process. In order to reveal the calcified plaque grinding mechanism inside the artery, a series of experiments were conducted. The wheel motion was identified through high-speed camera observation and grinding marks identification. The effects of rotation speed, wheel diameter, and lumen size on the grinding force and debris size distribution were discussed. The findings demonstrated that the grinding wheel rotates along the guidewire and orbits around the lumen, exhibiting intermittent contact to remove plaque discretely. The complex wheel motion generates an irregular grinding force, which was identified through the implementation of statistical methods based on probability theory. It has been demonstrated that a decrease in wheel diameter and rotation speed and an increase in lumen size can result in a reduction in force. The debris size distribution was found to be primarily influenced by the wheel speed. The elevated wheel speed can result in smaller debris, owing to the reinforced impaction effect. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the plaque grinding, which inform future clinical applications.

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank Professor Albert Shih and Dr. Yihao Zheng at the University of Michigan for their help in the early experiment preparation. This research was supported by the Fundamental Research Program of Shanxi Province (CN) (Granted No. 202303021211146) and Opening Project of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Surgical Instruments and Manufacturing Technology (Granted No. MISIMT-2022-2).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the article.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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