On Aortic Blood Flow Simulations Scale-Resolved Image-Based CFD

Abstract: This thesis focuses on modeling and simulation of the blood flow in the aorta, the largest artery in the human body. It is an accepted fact that abnormal biological and mechanical interactions between the blood flow and the vessel wall are involved in the genesis and progression of cardiovascular diseases. The transport of low-density lipoprotein into the wall has been linked to the initiation of atherosclerosis. The mechanical forces acting on the wall can impede the endothelial cell layer function, which normally acts as a barrier to harmful substances. The wall shear stress (WSS) affects endothelial cell function, and is a direct consequence of the flow field; steady laminar flows are generally considered atheroprotective, while the unsteady turbulent flow could contribute to atherogenesis. Quantification of regions with abnormal wall shear stress is therefore vital in order to understand the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.However, flow forces such as WSS cannot today be measured with significant accuracy using present clinical measurement techniques. Instead, researches rely on image-based computational modeling and simulation. With the aid of advanced mathematical models it is possible to simulate the blood flow, vessel dynamics, and even biochemical reactions, enabling information and insights that are currently unavailable through other techniques. During the cardiac cycle, the normally laminar aortic blood flow can become unstable and undergo transition to turbulence, at least in pathological cases such as coarctation of the aorta where the vessel is locally narrowed. The coarctation results in the formation of a jet with a high velocity, which will create the transition to turbulent flow. The high velocity will also increase the forces on the vessel wall. Turbulence is generally very difficult to model, requiring advanced mathematical models in order to resolve the flow features. As the flow is highly dependent on geometry, patient-specific representations of the in vivo arterial walls are needed, in order to perform an accurate and reliable simulation. Scale-resolving flow simulations were used to compute the WSS on the aortic wall and resolve the turbulent scales in the complex flow field. In addition to WSS, the turbulent flow before and after surgical intervention in an aortic coarctation was assessed. Numerical results were compared to state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging measurements. The results agreed very well, suggesting that that the measurement technique is reliable and could be used as a complement to standard clinical procedures when evaluating the outcome of an intervention.The work described in the thesis deals with patient-specific flows, and is, when possible, validated with experimental measurements. The results provide new insights to turbulent aortic flows, and show that image-based computational modeling and simulation are now ready for clinical practice.