Computational Modeling of Shear-Based Hemolysis Caused by Renal Obstruction

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Polina A. Segalova ◽  
K. T. Venkateswara Rao ◽  
Christopher K. Zarins ◽  
Charles A. Taylor

As endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) gains popularity, it is becoming possible to treat certain challenging aneurysmal anatomies with endografts relying on suprarenal fixation. In such anatomies, the bare struts of the device may be placed across the renal artery ostia, causing partial obstruction to renal artery blood flow. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate blood flow from the aorta to the renal arteries, utilizing patient-specific boundary conditions, in three patient models and calculate the degree of shear-based blood damage (hemolysis). We used contrast-enhanced computed tomography angiography (CTA) data from three AAA patients who were treated with a novel endograft to build patient-specific models. For each of the three patients, we constructed a baseline model and endoframe model. The baseline model was a direct representation of the patient’s 30-day post-operative CTA data. This model was then altered to create the endoframe model, which included a ring of metallic struts across the renal artery ostia. CFD was used to simulate blood flow, utilizing patient-specific boundary conditions. Pressures, flows, shear stresses, and the normalized index of hemolysis (NIH) were quantified for all patients. The overall differences between the baseline and endoframe models for all three patients were minimal, as measured though pressure, volumetric flow, velocity, and shear stress. The average NIH across the three baseline and endoframe models was 0.002 and 0.004, respectively. Results of CFD modeling show that the overall disturbance to flow caused by the presence of the endoframe struts is minimal. The magnitude of the NIH in all models was well below the accepted design and safety threshold for implantable medical devices that interact with blood flow.

Author(s):  
Shigefumi Tokuda ◽  
Takeshi Unemura ◽  
Marie Oshima

Cerebrovascular disorder such as subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is 3rd position of the cause of death in Japan [1]. Its initiation and growth are reported to depend on hemodynamic factors, particularly on wall shear stress or blood pressure induced by blood flow. In order to investigate the information on the hemodynamic quantities in the cerebral vascular system, the authors have been developing a computational tool using patient-specific modeling and numerical simulation [2]. In order to achieve an in vivo simulation of living organisms, it is important to apply appropriate physiological conditions such as physical properties, models, and boundary conditions. Generally, the numerical simulation using a patient-specific model is conducted for a localized region near the research target. Although the analysis region is only a part of the circulatory system, the simulation has to include the effects from the entire circulatory system. Many studies have carried out to derive the boundary conditions to model in vivo environment [3–5]. However, it is not easy to obtain the biological data of cerebral arteries due to head capsule.


Author(s):  
Polina A. Segalova ◽  
Guanglei Xiong ◽  
K. T. Rao ◽  
Christopher K. Zarins ◽  
Charles A. Taylor

Design and evaluation of implantable medical devices often relies on benchtop testing using physical models and animal studies. Although both methods are needed, they can be costly to implement and unable to represent patient-specific physiologic conditions. Computer simulations of blood flow in patient-specific anatomies offer an attractive alternative [1].


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Santanu Chandra ◽  
Samarth S. Raut ◽  
Anirban Jana ◽  
Robert W. Biederman ◽  
Mark Doyle ◽  
...  

Rupture risk assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) by means of biomechanical analysis is a viable alternative to the traditional clinical practice of using a critical diameter for recommending elective repair. However, an accurate prediction of biomechanical parameters, such as mechanical stress, strain, and shear stress, is possible if the AAA models and boundary conditions are truly patient specific. In this work, we present a complete fluid-structure interaction (FSI) framework for patient-specific AAA passive mechanics assessment that utilizes individualized inflow and outflow boundary conditions. The purpose of the study is two-fold: (1) to develop a novel semiautomated methodology that derives velocity components from phase-contrast magnetic resonance images (PC-MRI) in the infrarenal aorta and successfully apply it as an inflow boundary condition for a patient-specific fully coupled FSI analysis and (2) to apply a one-way–coupled FSI analysis and test its efficiency compared to transient computational solid stress and fully coupled FSI analyses for the estimation of AAA biomechanical parameters. For a fully coupled FSI simulation, our results indicate that an inlet velocity profile modeled with three patient-specific velocity components and a velocity profile modeled with only the axial velocity component yield nearly identical maximum principal stress (σ1), maximum principal strain (ε1), and wall shear stress (WSS) distributions. An inlet Womersley velocity profile leads to a 5% difference in peak σ1, 3% in peak ε1, and 14% in peak WSS compared to the three-component inlet velocity profile in the fully coupled FSI analysis. The peak wall stress and strain were found to be in phase with the systolic inlet flow rate, therefore indicating the necessity to capture the patient-specific hemodynamics by means of FSI modeling. The proposed one-way–coupled FSI approach showed potential for reasonably accurate biomechanical assessment with less computational effort, leading to differences in peak σ1, ε1, and WSS of 14%, 4%, and 18%, respectively, compared to the axial component inlet velocity profile in the fully coupled FSI analysis. The transient computational solid stress approach yielded significantly higher differences in these parameters and is not recommended for accurate assessment of AAA wall passive mechanics. This work demonstrates the influence of the flow dynamics resulting from patient-specific inflow boundary conditions on AAA biomechanical assessment and describes methods to evaluate it through fully coupled and one-way–coupled fluid-structure interaction analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxi Jia ◽  
Kumaradevan Punithakumar ◽  
Michelle Noga ◽  
Arman Hemmati

Abstract The characteristics of blood flow in an abnormal pediatric aorta with an aortic coarctation and aortic arch narrowing are examined using direct numerical simulations and patient-specific boundary conditions. The blood flow simulations of a normal pediatric aorta are used for comparison to identify unique flow features resulting from the aorta geometrical anomalies. Despite flow similarities compared to the flow in normal aortic arch, the flow velocity decreases with an increase in pressure, wall shear stress, and vorticity around both anomalies. The presence of wall shear stresses in the trailing indentation region and aorta coarctation opposing the primary flow direction suggests that there exist recirculation zones in the aorta. The discrepancy in relative flowrates through the top and bottom of the aorta outlets, and the pressure drop across the coarctation, implies a high blood pressure in the upper body and a low blood pressure in the lower body. We propose using flow manipulators prior to the aortic arch and coarctation to lower the wall shear stress, while making the recirculation regions both smaller and weaker. The flow manipulators form a guide to divert and correct blood flow in critical regions of the aorta with anomalies.


Author(s):  
Andrea S. Les ◽  
Janice J. Yeung ◽  
Phillip M. Young ◽  
Robert J. Herfkens ◽  
Ronald L. Dalman ◽  
...  

Hemodynamic forces are thought to play a critical role in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) formation and growth, as well as in the migration and failure of aortic stent grafts. Computational simulation of blood flow enables the study of such hemodynamic forces; however, these simulations require accurate geometries and boundary conditions, usually in the form of flow and pressure data at specific locations. Although hundreds of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies of AAA geometry are performed daily in the clinical setting, flow information is difficult to obtain: It is not possible to reliably measure flow using CT, and while phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI) can measure velocities, it is rarely used clinically for AAA patients. As a result, many AAA blood flow simulations use highly resolved patient-specific geometries, but may utilize literature-derived flows for inlet boundary conditions from a single, unrelated, sometimes healthy person of dissimilar body mass.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (63) ◽  
pp. 1449-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Biasetti ◽  
Fazle Hussain ◽  
T. Christian Gasser

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are frequently characterized by the development of an intra-luminal thrombus (ILT), which is known to have multiple biochemical and biomechanical implications. Development of the ILT is not well understood, and shear–stress-triggered activation of platelets could be the first step in its evolution. Vortical structures (VSs) in the flow affect platelet dynamics, which motivated the present study of a possible correlation between VS and ILT formation in AAAs. VSs educed by the λ 2 -method using computational fluid dynamics simulations of the backward-facing step problem, normal aorta, fusiform AAA and saccular AAA were investigated. Patient-specific luminal geometries were reconstructed from computed tomography scans, and Newtonian and Carreau–Yasuda models were used to capture salient rheological features of blood flow. Particularly in complex flow domains, results depended on the constitutive model. VSs developed all along the normal aorta, showing that a clear correlation between VSs and high wall shear stress (WSS) existed, and that VSs started to break up during late systole. In contrast, in the fusiform AAA, large VSs developed at sites of tortuous geometry and high WSS, occupying the entire lumen, and lasting over the entire cardiac cycle. Downward motion of VSs in the AAA was in the range of a few centimetres per cardiac cycle, and with a VS burst at that location, the release (from VSs) of shear-stress-activated platelets and their deposition to the wall was within the lower part of the diseased artery, i.e. where the thickest ILT layer is typically observed. In the saccular AAA, only one VS was found near the healthy portion of the aorta, while in the aneurysmatic bulge, no VSs occurred. We present a fluid-dynamics-motivated mechanism for platelet activation, convection and deposition in AAAs that has the potential of improving our current understanding of the pathophysiology of fluid-driven ILT growth.


2007 ◽  
Vol 106 (6) ◽  
pp. 1051-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prem Venugopal ◽  
Daniel Valentino ◽  
Holger Schmitt ◽  
J. Pablo Villablanca ◽  
Fernando Viñuela ◽  
...  

Object Due to the difficulty of obtaining patient-specific velocity measurements during imaging, many assumptions have to be made while imposing inflow boundary conditions in numerical simulations conducted using patient-specific, imaging-based cerebral aneurysm models. These assumptions can introduce errors, resulting in lack of agreement between the computed flow fields and the true blood flow in the patient. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the assumptions made while imposing inflow boundary conditions on aneurysmal hemodynamics. Methods A patient-based anterior communicating artery aneurysm model was selected for this study. The effects of various inflow parameters on numerical simulations conducted using this model were then investigated by varying these parameters over ranges reported in the literature. Specifically, we investigated the effects of heart and blood flow rates as well as the distribution of flow rates in the A1 segments of the anterior cerebral artery. The simulations revealed that the shear stress distributions on the aneurysm surface were largely unaffected by changes in heart rate except at locations where the shear stress magnitudes were small. On the other hand, the shear stress distributions were found to be sensitive to the ratio of the flow rates in the feeding arteries as well as to variations in the blood flow rate. Conclusions Measurement of the blood flow rate as well as the distribution of the flow rates in the patient's feeding arteries may be needed for numerical simulations to accurately reproduce the intraaneurysmal hemodynamics in a specific aneurysm in the clinical setting.


2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Sughimoto ◽  
Yoshiharu Takahara ◽  
Kenji Mogi ◽  
Kenji Yamazaki ◽  
Ken’ichi Tsubota ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Ford ◽  
Hristo N. Nikolov ◽  
Jaques S. Milner ◽  
Stephen P. Lownie ◽  
Edwin M. DeMont ◽  
...  

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of nominally patient-specific cerebral aneurysms is increasingly being used as a research tool to further understand the development, prognosis, and treatment of brain aneurysms. We have previously developed virtual angiography to indirectly validate CFD-predicted gross flow dynamics against the routinely acquired digital subtraction angiograms. Toward a more direct validation, here we compare detailed, CFD-predicted velocity fields against those measured using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). Two anatomically realistic flow-through phantoms, one a giant internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysm and the other a basilar artery (BA) tip aneurysm, were constructed of a clear silicone elastomer. The phantoms were placed within a computer-controlled flow loop, programed with representative flow rate waveforms. PIV images were collected on several anterior-posterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) planes. CFD simulations were then carried out using a well-validated, in-house solver, based on micro-CT reconstructions of the geometries of the flow-through phantoms and inlet/outlet boundary conditions derived from flow rates measured during the PIV experiments. PIV and CFD results from the central AP plane of the ICA aneurysm showed a large stable vortex throughout the cardiac cycle. Complex vortex dynamics, captured by PIV and CFD, persisted throughout the cardiac cycle on the central LAT plane. Velocity vector fields showed good overall agreement. For the BA, aneurysm agreement was more compelling, with both PIV and CFD similarly resolving the dynamics of counter-rotating vortices on both AP and LAT planes. Despite the imposition of periodic flow boundary conditions for the CFD simulations, cycle-to-cycle fluctuations were evident in the BA aneurysm simulations, which agreed well, in terms of both amplitudes and spatial distributions, with cycle-to-cycle fluctuations measured by PIV in the same geometry. The overall good agreement between PIV and CFD suggests that CFD can reliably predict the details of the intra-aneurysmal flow dynamics observed in anatomically realistic in vitro models. Nevertheless, given the various modeling assumptions, this does not prove that they are mimicking the actual in vivo hemodynamics, and so validations against in vivo data are encouraged whenever possible.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document