›› 2011, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (11): 1554-.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8115.2011.11.011

• Original article (Basic research) • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Numerical simulation of influence of wall elasticity of patient-specific carotid bifurcation on hemodynamics

QIU Xiao-ning1, FEI Zhi-min2, ZHANG Jue3, WANG Wei-zhe1, CAO Zhao-min1   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China; 2.Department of Neurosurgery, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 203204, China; 3.Department of Neurosurgery, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
  • Online:2011-11-28 Published:2011-11-29
  • Supported by:

    Clinical Research Special Fund of Chinese Medical Association, 09010200175;National Natural Science Foundation of China, 50906049;Research Project of State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, MSV201115

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship between bifurcation carotid atherosclerosis and hemodynamics by analysing the influence of carotid artery elastic wall deformation on hemodynamics. Methods A carotid bifurcation model was developed by Mimics software through three-dimensional reconstruction of CT medical images. Three-dimensional flows of rigid wall model and elastic wall model were numerically simulated through computational fluid dynamics. The differences between rigid and elastic models were analysed by comparing hemodynamic parameters such as wall displacement, Von Mises stress, time average wall shear stress (TAWSS) and oscillatory shear index (OSI). Results For elastic model, although the differences between distributions of carotid artery velocity and wall shear stress were not significant, the velocity and wall shear stress of carotid artery decreased significantly compared to rigid model. It was revealed that the maximum velocity and TAWSS in elastic model decreased 14% and 11.8% respectively. The flow in carotid artery became more complicated due to the disturbance of wall deformation. Conclusion Wall elasticity has important influence on the hemodynamics of carotid bifurcation, and the elastic wall is more suitable for simulating flows in carotid artery.

Key words: carotid bifurcation, atherosclerosis, hemodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, fluid structure interaction