Design and Development of a Dedicated System for Controlled Diameter Reduction in Physician-Modified Endografts

Abstract

Endovascular aneurysm repair using physician-modified endografts (PMEGs) is an important option for patients whose anatomy is not suited to standard or custom-manufactured stent grafts. Before implantation, the surgical team modifies a commercial graft by hand on a sterile back table. One of the preparation steps in this workflow is time-consuming, relies on general-purpose tools, and demands close coordination between several team members.

This thesis examines this preparation step as a workflow problem rather than an isolated tool problem. Through clinical literature, observation, expert interviews, and iterative prototyping, the work analyses how the task is distributed across people, tools, and time, and explores design directions and proposes solution that could make the preparation more controlled and repeatable. The report concludes by outlining the further development and validation steps required before clinical use.