December 4, 2003

‘Mr. Block’ Improves Efficiency In Aneurysm Surgery

INDIANAPOLIS - A medical sculptor and a vascular surgeon at the Indiana University School of Medicine have combined their skills to produce a device to assist physicians placing stents in patients’ aortas.

Jim Beck, a sculptor with the IU medical school’s Office of Visual Media, has received a patent on his invention, the Aortic Stent-Graft Calibration and Training Model.

Mr. Beck developed the model under the guidance of Stephen G. Lalka, M.D., who provided the scientific, anatomical and technical aspects of the model; Mr. Beck used his artistic skills to make it into a workable device. Dr. Lalka is a professor of surgery, and chief of peripheral vascular surgery section and medical director of the Vascular Diagnostic Laboratory at the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is the principal investigator for the IU endovascular stent-graph program for repair of aortic aneurysms.

The device, nicknamed “Mr. Block,” is used in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) imaging to increase the accuracy of the placement of stents. A stent is typically a mesh-like device inserted in an artery to keep from constricting or to strengthen an area weakened by an aneurysm.

Mr. Block, who is placed in the scanner as a patient would be, checks the calibration of the imaging machines to make sure each scanner is computing the distance between specific points in precisely the same way. The process reveals if machines are overestimating or underestimating desired distances. Mr. Beck describes this process as making sure “all of your rulers measure the same.”

Another function of the model is to help a physician obtain a precise measurement of the size of the stent needed by particular patients. Currently, there is no precise way of calculating the size of stent needed and if an incorrect size is placed in a patient, a second stent has to be inserted which increase surgical risk and recuperation time, as well as increase health care costs.

Aortic vessels are not straight but rather they snake and spiral making it difficult for physicians to calculate the diameter of the vessel. Mr. Block uses a three dimensional application, in combination with MRI or CT imaging, that provides a more precise determination of the size of stent needed.

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Media Contact: Mary Hardin
317-274-7722
mhardin@iupui.edu

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