Numerical model and finite element simulation of arterial blood flow profile reconstruction in a uniform magnetic field

Since arterial blood has both fluidity and conductivity, the arterial blood flow area is equivalent to an electric current source under the action of a static magnetic field, thus forming an electric field within a certain range of the human body. Therefore, the distribution of arterial blood flow can be reconstructed by using electrodes to obtain the potential difference signal on the skin's surface. In this paper, firstly, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element simulation model of a human forearm artery was established in COMSOL to simulate the potential distribution under a uniform magnetic field and extract the potential difference data. Then, based on the integral equation of the electromagnetic reciprocity theorem and the Maxwell equation, a numerical model of the reconstructed arterial flow profile was derived in detail. Finally, the arterial location, velocity resolution and flow volume were reconstructed and analyzed respectively. The simulation results show that the correlation between the reconstructed image and the given image is above 0.82 and the highest is 0.91, the resolution of velocity imaging is 0.046 m s −1 , and the mean relative error of the volume of the reconstructed blood flow is 0.820%. The above results showed good numerical accuracy, indicating the theoretical feasibility of using a uniform electromagnetic field to reconstruct the distribution of arterial blood flow.