Researchers Get $100K Grant to Track Aneurysms and Predict Rupture

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is the 15th leading cause of death in the United States. It occurs when the aorta weakens and begins to irreversibly dilate, like a slowly inflating balloon. If left untreated, the risk of rupture increases and has a 90 percent rate of mortality. 

Engineering’s David Vorp and Timothy Chung are working in collaboration with the School of Medicine’s Nathan Liang to develop a new model to better predict at-risk patients. They received a $100,000 award from Precision Medicine Initiative for Commercialization for this effort.

The team is using tools to perform shape analysis and biomechanical simulations and will use these data to train a machine learning algorithm to classify different types of aneurysm outcomes. This classifier will be used to develop a predictive model that can help guide clinicians and determine the need for surgical intervention.