Numerical study on the hemodynamics of patient-specific carotid bifurcation using a new mesh approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. e2972 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.I.S. Pinto ◽  
J.B.L.M. Campos ◽  
E. Azevedo ◽  
C.F. Castro ◽  
L.C. Sousa
Author(s):  
Megan Cummins ◽  
Jenn S. Rossmann

The hemodynamics and fluid mechanical forces in blood vessels have long been implicated in the deposition and growth of atherosclerotic plaque. Detailed information about the hemodynamics in vessels affected by significant plaque deposits can provide insight into the mechanisms and likelihood of plaque weakening and rupture. In the current study, the governing equations are solved in their finite volume formulation in several patient-specific geometries. Recirculation zones, vortex shedding, and secondary flows are captured. The forces on vessel walls are shown to correlate with unstable plaque deposits. The results of these simulations suggest morphological features that may usefully supplement percent stenosis as a predictor of plaque vulnerability.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. P. P. Tan ◽  
G. Soloperto ◽  
S. Bashford ◽  
N. B. Wood ◽  
S. Thom ◽  
...  

In this study, newly developed two-equation turbulence models and transitional variants are employed for the prediction of blood flow patterns in a diseased carotid artery where the growth, progression, and structure of the plaque at rupture are closely linked to low and oscillating wall shear stresses. Moreover, the laminar-turbulent transition in the poststenotic zone can alter the separation zone length, wall shear stress, and pressure distribution over the plaque, with potential implications for stresses within the plaque. Following the validation with well established experimental measurements and numerical studies, a magnetic-resonance (MR) image-based model of the carotid bifurcation with 70% stenosis was reconstructed and simulated using realistic patient-specific conditions. Laminar flow, a correlation-based transitional version of Menter’s hybrid k‐ϵ∕k‐ω shear stress transport (SST) model and its “scale adaptive simulation” (SAS) variant were implemented in pulsatile simulations from which analyses of velocity profiles, wall shear stress, and turbulence intensity were conducted. In general, the transitional version of SST and its SAS variant are shown to give a better overall agreement than their standard counterparts with experimental data for pulsatile flow in an axisymmetric stenosed tube. For the patient-specific case reported, the wall shear stress analysis showed discernable differences between the laminar flow and SST transitional models but virtually no difference between the SST transitional model and its SAS variant.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios E. Kiousis ◽  
Stephan F. Rubinigg ◽  
Martin Auer ◽  
Gerhard A. Holzapfel

A lipid core that occupies a high proportion of the plaque volume in addition to a thin fibrous cap is a predominant indicator of plaque vulnerability. Nowadays, noninvasive imaging modalities can identify such structural components, however, morphological criteria alone cannot reliably identify high-risk plaques. Information, such as stresses in the lesion’s components, seems to be essential. This work presents a methodology able to analyze the effect of changes in the lipid core and calcification on the wall stresses, in particular, on the fibrous cap vulnerability. Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and histology of an ex vivo human atherosclerotic carotid bifurcation, a patient-specific three-dimensional geometric model, consisting of four tissue components, is generated. The adopted constitutive model accounts for the nonlinear and anisotropic tissue behavior incorporating the collagen fiber orientation by means of a novel and robust algorithm. The material parameters are identified from experimental data. A novel stress-based computational cap vulnerability index is proposed to assess quantitatively the rupture-risk of fibrous caps. Nonlinear finite element analyses identify that the highest stress regions are located at the vicinity of the shoulders of the fibrous cap and in the stiff calcified tissue. A parametric analysis reveals a positive correlation between the increase in lipid core portion and the mechanical stress in the fibrous cap and, hence, the risk for cap rupture. The highest values of the vulnerability index, which correlate to more vulnerable caps, are obtained for morphologies for which the lipid cores were severe; heavily loaded fibrous caps were thus detected. The proposed multidisciplinary methodology is able to investigate quantitatively the mechanical behavior of atherosclerotic plaques in patient-specific stenoses. The introduced vulnerability index may serve as a more quantitative tool for diagnosis, treatment and prevention.


Author(s):  
Ali Farnoud ◽  
Xinguang Cui ◽  
Ingo Baumann ◽  
Eva Gutheil

The present numerical study concerns the dispersion and deposition of a nasal spray in a patient-specific human nose. The realistic three-dimensional geometry of the nasal cavity is reconstructed from computer tomography (CT) scans. Identification of the region of interest, removal of artifacts, segmentation, generation of the .STL file and the triangulated surface grid are performed using the software packages ImageJ, meshLab, and NeuRA2. An unstructured computational volume grid with approximately 15 million tetrahedral grid cells is generated using the software Ansys ICEM-CFD 11.0. An unsteady Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation is used to describe the airflow and the spray dispersion and deposition in the realistic human nasal airway using two-way coupling. A new solver called pimpleParcelFoam is developed, which combines the lagrangianParcel libraries with the pimpleFoam solver within the software package OpenFOAM 3.0.0. A large eddy simulation (LES) with the dynamic sub-grid scale (SGS) model is performed to study the spray in both a steady and a pulsating airflow with an inflow rate of 7.5 L/min (or maximum value in case of the pulsating spray) and a frequency of 45 Hz for pulsation as used in commercial inhalation devices. 10,000 mono-disperse particles with the diameters of 2.4 µm and 10 µm are uniformly injected at the nostrils. In order to fulfil the stability conditions for the numerical solution, a constant time-step of 10−5 s is implemented. The simulations are performed for a real process time of 1 s, since after the first second of the process, all particles have escaped through the pharynx or they are deposited at the surface of the nasal cavity. The numerical computations are performed on the high-performance computer bwForCluster MLS&WISO Production using 256 processors, which take around 32 and 75 hours for steady and pulsating flow simulation, respectively. The study shows that the airflow velocity reaches its maximum values in the nasal valve, in parts of the septum and in the nasopharynx. A complex airflow is observed in the vestibule and in the nasopharynx region, which may directly affect the dispersion and deposition pattern of the spray. The results reveal that the spray tends to deposit in the nasal valve, the septum and in the nasopharynx due to the change in the direction of the airflow in these regions. Moreover, it is found that due to the pulsating airflow, the aerosols are more dispersed and penetrate deeper into the posterior regions and the meatuses where the connections to the sinuses reside.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ILASS2017.2017.4628


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Daniel J. Watson

Methods taken from engineering and computer science were applied to the lymphatic system. Starting with a 3D analysis of a single subject-specific lymphatic valve. A mechanism was presented to explain previous experimental results showing the effect of trans-mural pressure on the pressure required to close lymphatic valves. The impor-tance of wall motion in future FSI studies of lymphatic valve dynamics were identified. Previous approaches to lumped modelling of the lymphatic system were considered and modifications were proposed. A less-idealised valve model, incorporating trans-mural dependent bias, was proposed as well as a method of allowing self-organised contrac-tion through a stretch-dependent frequency of contraction. A network of the superficial lymphatics of the upper-limb was reconstructed from an anatomical sketch. The net-work was used in conjunction with the lumped model to produce a 421 vessel lymphatic model consisting of 17,706 lymphangions. Several issues which impede large network scale modelling of the lymphatic system are identified. A simplified patient-specific biphasic model of lymphoedema was proposed and used to develop a novel shape-based metric for lymphoedema. A statistically significant relationship between the metric and the presence of lymphoedema was found.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245775
Author(s):  
Samar A. Mahrous ◽  
Nor Azwadi Che Sidik ◽  
Khalid M. Saqr

The complex physics and biology underlying intracranial hemodynamics are yet to be fully revealed. A fully resolved direct numerical simulation (DNS) study has been performed to identify the intrinsic flow dynamics in an idealized carotid bifurcation model. To shed the light on the significance of considering blood shear-thinning properties, the power-law model is compared to the commonly used Newtonian viscosity hypothesis. We scrutinize the kinetic energy cascade (KEC) rates in the Fourier domain and the vortex structure of both fluid models and examine the impact of the power-law viscosity model. The flow intrinsically contains coherent structures which has frequencies corresponding to the boundary frequency, which could be associated with the regulation of endothelial cells. From the proposed comparative study, it is found that KEC rates and the vortex-identification are significantly influenced by the shear-thinning blood properties. Conclusively, from the obtained results, it is found that neglecting the non-Newtonian behavior could lead to underestimation of the hemodynamic parameters at low Reynolds number and overestimation of the hemodynamic parameters by increasing the Reynolds number. In addition, we provide physical insight and discussion onto the hemodynamics associated with endothelial dysfunction which plays significant role in the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms.


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