Development of shape memory polymer nanocomposite foam for treatment of intracranial aneurysms

Abstract This paper presents the novel development of highly porous carbon nanotube (CNT)/shape memory polymer (SMP) nanocomposites for potential endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms (ICAs). Pristine SMP foam is fabricated using a sugar template method. CNT/SMP nanocomposites are fabricated by infiltrating CNTs into the pristine SMP foam in ethanol via ultrasonication. The porous nanocomposites are characterized to identify key parameters, such as the average pore size, density, porosity and electrical resistivity. A resistive-heating mechanism is developed to trigger shape recovery of the nanocomposites. The results of this work will lay a solid foundation for our subsequent development of new personalized biomedical devices to treat ICAs using a catheter-based endovascular procedure.