Simulation of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Healthy Subjects by Inducing Vein Stenosis via External Pressure

Deep vein thrombosis is a widespread venous disorder. Currently, duplex ultrasound is still the gold standard for venous thrombosis screening in clinical practice. Alternative methods like venous occlusion plethysmography are not widely adopted due to some controversy over their safety and cumbersomeness. Experimenting in-vivo is highly risky due to thrombi embolization, therefore there is a lack of available data about pathology-affected venous blood flow, for further outflow parameter optimization or the development of more patient-friendly approaches. This study aims to simulate deep vein thrombosis on healthy subjects by applying external pressure to specific deep veins (femoral and popliteal) to prove the feasibility of such a simulation. This in turn could provide an opportunity to collect venous occlusion plethysmography signal database for further development. Results from ten volunteers indicate a significant change in venous capacity, venous outflow time constant, and outflow rate when simulating deep venous thrombosis. Unfortunately, the used device classified only 35% of the simulated cases as pathological, leaving room for improvement.