Blood Flow Dynamics through Atherosclerosis Affected and Stented Arteries

Atherosclerosis is a vascular disease that reduces arterial lumen size through plaque deposition and arterial wall thickening. The pathological complications of atherosclerosis, namely heart disease and stroke, remain the leading cause of mortality in the world. The most common interventional procedure against atherosclerosis involves the placement of an intravascular stent, which is small tube-like structures placed into stenotic arteries to restore the blood flow. The flow patterns in the arteries are highly modulating along with the cardiac cycle and a strong function of the waveform created by the heartbeat. In this study Computational Fluid Dynamics (DFD) Analysis is performed on the femoral artery with an objective to evaluate the design of stents and its impact on blood flow dynamics. Simulations are performed on healthy, atherosclerosis affected and stented femoral arteries. Velocity and wall shear stress fields over the cardiac cycle are analyzed to predict the outcome of the interventions in terms of recirculation and stagnation regions and identify improved stent designs. The complex blood flow pattern with slow moving regions, flow separation and recirculatory form near the wall during cardiac cycle is the major contributing factor to the formation of the atherosclerotic plaque at that location. It was demonstrated that adverse flow field created upstream and downstream of the blockage may cause enhanced growth in size of the blockage. The stent design also plays a significant role in the possibility of restenosis.